Friend or Prey?
by Black Raider
Summary: After a spell transports Toothless to a land of only animals, he must befriend what he would eat in order to return home. But danger is lurking behind every corner. Will Toothless get home? Or will his predator instincts get in the way?
1. A New World

Friend or Prey?

Chapter One- New World

Hiccup flew Toothless high into the air, darting thru the clouds and shooting past seagulls. Toothless flew with speed and grace. Hiccup laughed and whooped as they soared. Soon, they landed, Toothless out of breath.

"Nice flight, buddy." Hiccup told his Night Fury friend. He dismounted, but almost fell because of his prosthetic leg. It had been two weeks since the battle with the Green Death, the giant dragon that tortured all the others. Toothless helped his human rider back to his house. Once there, Gobber arrived, hulling up a net of fish.

"Mornin' Hiccup." The Viking greeted warmly. "How was the flight?"

"Great." Hiccup said. "It's not as hard as I thought it would be with my leg." The two of them laughed. Toothless started sniffing at the net of fish. "Toothless, no." Hiccup told his dragon. "Those aren't yours."

"Actually, yes they are." Gobber said, dumping the fish at Toothless' feet. The Night Fury immediately started gulping them down. "I figured he'd like it, I thought I'd start providing him with breakfast."

"Gee, thanks." Hiccup said. "Are you sure it's okay?"

"Why not?" Gobber asked. "Now that the dragons aren't stealing our food, we're a bit in overstock." Gobber tossed the net over his shoulder. "Well, I'm off to work. Stay out of trouble."

"I'll keep Toothless in check." Hiccup promised.

"Oh I wasn't talking about Toothless." Gobber called back. He laughed heartily. Hiccup chuckled. He watched Toothless with amusement as the black dragon gulped down fish after fish until there wasn't even a single scale left. The Night Fury turned to its rider, as if it were asking, _Are there any more?_

"Good boy." Hiccup said. He started for his house, but swayed as he began to fall. Toothless walked over and helped the Viking boy to his home.

*****

"Panda, what have I told you repeatedly?" Shifu asked his newest student.

Po sighed. "Focus when in battle or you'll die." He got up to his feet after being slammed into the ground by Tigress. The tiger warrior smirked as she sat down next to her friends on the Training Hall steps.

"Can I stop now?" Po whined.

"Alright." Shifu said. Po sighed. "After you spar with Viper."

"What?!" Po exclaimed. He tried to run, but he was stopped short by Viper's tail wrapping around his leg. Everyone on the steps winced as Po was thrown around and then tossed up into the air and landing in a tree. Po hit his head numerous times before falling into a painful split.

"Ouch." He moaned.

"_Now _you may stop." Shifu said. "It's time for bed." Everyone nodded and headed off. Po was the last to leave, after getting to his feet and slowly walking off.

"I hate sparring days." Po muttered to himself. When he got to the bunkhouse, he collapsed into bed and drifted off into a peaceful sleep. But a few hours later, in the middle of the night, he was awoken by a scream. Po bolted upright and ran out of his room, grabbing a bamboo staff he always kept in his room. He ran down the hall to Shifu's room and banged on the door. Unfortunately, Po punched a hole into the paper door. Shifu looked out and, seeing his panda student, sighed and walked out.

"Po…" he said.

"I know." Po said. "I have to fix that. You ok?" Shifu looked a bit pale, despite having fur, and his fur was ruffled like he had been fighting someone.

"I'm fine." Shifu said. "Just a bad dream."

"About what?" Po asked.

"Not sure." Shifu said. "Some sort of……animal…..attacked me." He noticed his panda student's worried face. "I'm alright. It was just a dream. You just…….go back to sleep." Shifu walked back into his room. Po started to do the same, but stopped to see Shifu thru the hole he had made. Shifu was sitting on his bed, his head in his hands, and sighing. Po shook his head and went to his room to sleep.

*****

The next morning, it was the same routine. Hiccup and Toothless flew thru the air with grace and ease before landing and Toothless being fed. The Night Fury was very pleased with the routine.

"Hiccup." Gobber piped up before leaving. He looked worried. "If I were you, I'd keep your dragon under a watchful eye."

"Why's that?" Hiccup asked.

"Well….some of the dragons are getting fidgety, and whenever they see your dragon, they stare at it like he's about to drop dead, literally." Gobber explained.

Hiccup stared at him, and then at Toothless, who was still eating his fish. "That Green Death can't come back, can it?" The Green Death was the name of the dragon that he and Toothless had killed.

Gobber sighed. "Not sure. But if something happens, you need to be prepared." Gobber left. Hiccup stared at Toothless. The Night Fury gave him a look that clearly said, _Are you okay? _

Hiccup sighed. "I don't know, buddy." He said, patting the dragon on the nose. "Things do seem a bit tense." Toothless sighed, as though he agreed. The dragon helped Hiccup stand and they walked off.

Hiccup's mind was racing. _Could the Green Death come back? No doubt he would want revenge on Toothless. I can't let that happen. If something happens to Toothless, I don't know what I'd do._

Suddenly, Hiccup fell forward as Toothless moved out from under him. When the young Viking looked back, he saw a portal with a shadow of a large hand coming out of it. The hand was grasping Toothless' foot and dragging him towards the portal. Hiccup was horrified. "No!"He struggled to stand and run after his dragon, but his prosthetic leg failed him and he fell. He scrambled to his feet, only to fall once more. Meanwhile, Toothless was being pulled closer towards the portal. His eyes were slits, like a cat's, and they were full of fear. Hiccup ran on all fours as fast as he could. He made a wild leap for his dragon…..

…..who disappeared into the portal before Hiccup could reach him.

"No!" Hiccup pounded the ground in frustration. Astrid, who had seen the entire thing and was rushing to help, suddenly was kneeling next to Hiccup.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I don't know." Hiccup choked out as he held back his tears. "Somebody must've wanted Toothless, and now he's gone." Astrid looked at the spot that used to occupy the brave Night Fury, and put an arm around Hiccup to comfort him.

*****

Shifu watched as Po trained. The panda was certainly getting better. Shifu watched for another few minutes before walking off to the peach tree to meditate. He managed to keep the peace for about a minute and a half before a strange, loud sound snapped him out of it. He looked up and was shocked to see something big, sleek, and black fall out of the sky and crash land into the forest. Shifu didn't hesitate; he ran off to the forest, grabbing his bamboo flute on the way. He sprinted to the forest, looking for the creature. He was too sure where it had landed, but he had to look. He walked around for about half an hour before he gave up, sitting on a rock.

"What was I thinking?" he asked aloud. "That thing's like an ant in the grass in this forest."

He sighed and stood up. But he stopped abruptly at the sight of a nearby tree. The tree looked like something had crashed into the top of it, and it was split down the trunk. Shifu looked down the fallen tree and saw a large ditch leading downwards. He followed it warily, holding his flute ready in case he needed to use it in "staff mode". He looked over a rock and quickly ducked down. He gulped and looked again.

"I don't believe it." he breathed.

_Look again. _His eyes said.

Lying in a small canyon was the creature. The creature was sleek and black, with large wings like a bat's and wicked sharp claws. It had a medium sized neck and powerful-looking legs. One of the creature's tail fins was a makeshift, bright red and with a dragon skull on it.

And that's what the creature was.

Shifu was staring at a downed dragon.

A/N: First crossover! I hope you all watched How To Train Your Dragon! Enjoy!


	2. The Hunter

Chapter Two- The Hunter

Shifu inched closer and closer towards the dragon, being careful to stay behind the rocks. The black dragon was unconscious on the ground, but it was still breathing. Shifu gathered his courage and slowing advanced towards the beast. He examined it closely. The dragon was magnificent! It was such a dark black it looked like it had come out of the night sky. Shifu noticed a shard of bamboo stuck in the dragon's foot. Feeling pity for the dragon, Shifu carefully reached over and pulled it out.

_That's _when the dragon woke up.

The dragon leaped to its feet and tackled Shifu, sending them both tumbling head over heels until they both hit a rock. Shifu managed to scramble away running from the beast that now wanted to kill him. Shifu sprinted towards the rocks he had come from, the dragon right on his tail. The dragon snapped at the small master, but Shifu managed to jump away and land on a rock above. He climbed a bit higher and looked behind him. The dragon was flapping its wings, trying to chase after Shifu once more, but it couldn't. Shifu got a good look at the dragon's eyes and saw that they were bright green and had slit pupils, like a cat's. The dragon eventually left Shifu alone and tried to fly, but it kept falling. Shifu noticed the red makeshift tail fin was still folded up.

Suddenly, the dragon lunged again! Shifu jumped back, the dragon landing short. The aged master ran for his dear life and didn't stop until he was in the safety of the Hall of Warriors. He slammed the door shut behind him and breathed heavily. Then, he sighed and slid down the door until he was curled into a ball.

It was then he realized that he had left his flute in the canyon with the dragon.

*****

Shifu was quiet the rest of the day. He was so shaken by the attack from the dragon that he didn't feel like doing much. The next morning, he realized just how fond he was of his bamboo flute. Shifu couldn't help but think that he should go get it. He tried to take his mind off of it, but he couldn't. While his students trained, he thought of meditating. But every time he closed his eyes, he either saw the dragon trying to attack him or the dragon teething on his flute.

Shifu growled. That flute had been a gift from Master Oogway himself when Shifu was ten. Shifu stood and wandered into the forest, determined to retrieve one of the things he loved the most.

Shifu managed to find the ditch that the dragon had made when it crash-landed and followed it down to the canyon. He stayed low and hid behind the rocks, carefully moving down into the canyon. He came to the last bit of rocks and slowly peeked out.

But the dragon was nowhere in sight.

Shifu was suspicious, but then he noticed his flute on the tiny shores of the small lake of water. He looked around once more before walking down into the canyon. He warily looked around for the dragon as he advanced towards his flute, but didn't see the great beast anywhere. He finally grabbed his flute and stepped back a bit.

"Hmm…." Shifu inspected his flute, but saw it wasn't damaged. "Must've left." Suddenly, it heard a noise, and it ducked behind a rock. He looked out but saw nothing. He thought about walking out, but then the dragon dropped to the ground. He was shocked to see the leg of the dragon bleeding. The black dragon sighed and walked off. He breathed fire on the ground and curled up on top of it, falling asleep. Shifu sprinted off, but the dragon didn't wake. Shifu stopped running halfway to the palace. He looked back at where he had come from. He inspected his flute again, but there was nothing wrong with it.

Shifu was starting to get curious. He walked off home. But instead of going to the palace, he journeyed into the village. Villagers greeted him warmly, but he only nodded in their direction. He was on a mission to figure this out. Shifu stopped at a large house in the village and knocked on the door. There were a couple of crashes from inside before the door opened, revealing an adult coyote wearing simple brown pants and a shirt that matched.

The coyote smiled warmly. "Good afternoon, Master Shifu."

"Afternoon, Kai." Shifu said. "May I come in?"

"Of course!" Kai exclaimed. "Just watch your step." He traveled back into the house. Shifu followed, closing the door behind him. Shifu walked about the house, which was a mess of books, papers, journals, brushes, and ink. Shifu carefully stepped over a stack of papers on the floor as he followed his friend. Kai set himself down at a table and gestured for Shifu to join him.

"So, how can I help my old friend?" Kai asked.

"First off, you're not that old." Shifu retorted. "Second, I need you to help me with a dragon."

"Really?" Kai perked up. Studying dragons was his specialty. "What dragon?"

"That's just it; I'm not sure." Shifu told him. "I saw…..a picture of it. But I'm not sure what it was." Shifu was careful; he didn't want to reveal that there really was a dragon in the Valley of Peace. Kai brought out an ink brush, ink, and a piece of paper and instructed Shifu to draw the dragon. Shifu did his best to draw the beast that nearly killed him. Kai studied the picture for a while before he ran off to his bookshelf. He scanned every volume, climbing onto a ladder to reach the topmost books. Eventually, he found what he was looking for. But, in the process of dragging the giant book off the shelf, Kai fell off the ladder.

"You alright?" Shifu asked.

"Fine." Kai wheezed. He got up and set the book on the table. He opened the book to the very last page. "Now, this book is written in the language of the Vikings. They were Norse, or Scandinavian. Now, this here is the legendary Night Fury. Little is known about it; in fact, there's only one thing for sure: you must hope it does not find you, or you're dead." Kai sighed. "I've cataloged and studied every dragon in the world. But, for some reason, I can't find this Night Fury. I heard that it is native near a village called Berk, but I traveled the world, asking about the Night Fury and of Berk. I never found a thing." Shifu stared at the page in the book. The only things under "Night Fury" were a few notes at the bottom.

"Anything else?" Shifu asked.

"It's carnivorous." Kai said simply. "The Night Fury is a ferocious hunter."

*****

Shifu didn't even wait until the next day; he went to the palace, grabbed some bandages and a knife, and went back to the canyon that afternoon. He ventured into the canyon and looked around. But, yet again, the Night Fury was nowhere to be found. Shifu walked around the canyon before he heard a low, yet painful growl. He slowly turned around and saw the Night Fury, trapped in a tangled net. How the net got around the beast, Shifu wasn't sure. But, as far as he could tell, the dragon was stuck. It was also unconscious. Shifu went to bandage the creature's leg first, wrapping it tightly but trying to not wake the beast. Only when Shifu tied the bandage off did the dragon jerk. Shifu jumped back and his eyes wandered to the Night Fury's head.

The Night Fury's bright, green, cat-like eyes were staring at him.

Shifu gulped a little. He took out the knife he had and slowly moved forward. The Night Fury didn't move or try to escape; in fact, it laid its head down, thinking it was about to die. Shifu started to cut away at the net, slicing off as much rope as he could. Though it took a while, he managed to cut it all off.

Suddenly, the Night Fury pounced!

Shifu dropped his knife as he was thrown and pinned to the ground by the Night Fury's paw. Its sharp talons were just brushing against his throat. Shifu stared at the dragon's eyes with fear. The dragon, in turn, glared at Shifu. Shifu braced himself, but the Night Fury didn't strike. It just glared at him for a long moment. Then, it reared back……

…….and roared in Shifu's face.

Then, it bounded off as far away from Shifu as it could possibly get while it was trapped in the canyon.

A/N: I know I included some of How To Train Your Dragon clips, but I own nothing!


	3. A Better Meeting

Chapter Three- A Better Meeting

Shifu went back for the fourth time the next afternoon, this time with a raw fish. He didn't see the Night Fury at first, but he knew it was there. But, when the great dragon came slinking out, he wasn't surprised. Even if he was, he didn't show it. The Night Fury glared at him with its bright green cat eyes. The dragon and the red panda stared at each other for a long time.

Then, the dragon scoffed. "What are you doing here, fresh meat?"

Shifu blinked in surprise. "So _now _you decide to speak."

"I could've talked the entire time." The Night Fury retorted. "I just chose not to. Now what does a slab of meat like you want?"

"First off, I'm _not _a slab of fresh meat." Shifu said sternly. "My name is Master Shifu. I'm from the Jade Palace."

"Whatever." The Night Fury said. "Just leave-" Then, the dragon sniffed the air, and that's when he noticed the fish in Shifu's hands. His stomach immediately growled.

Shifu smirked. "Hungry?"

The Night Fury glared again. "No!" His stomach growled. "Maybe." His stomach growled louder. "Yes…." Shifu chuckled and held out the fish for the dragon. The Night Fury came forward and attentively reached to the fish. Looking into his mouth, Shifu only saw gums.

"You don't have teeth?" he asked.

"Sure I do." The Night Fury said. Suddenly, his teeth came in with a flash, and the Night Fury grabbed the fish from Shifu's hands, swallowing it whole. "Thanks for the fish."

"Not a problem." Shifu muttered. "Now, can I get some answers out of you?"

"Do you have a fish with my name on it tomorrow?" The Night Fury countered.

Shifu smirked. "I don't see why not." The Night Fury smiled and the two of them got comfortable; the Night Fury curling up like a cat and Shifu sitting cross legged in front of him.

"So what's your name?" Shifu asked. "And why are you here?"

"My name's Toothless." The Night Fury said. "I'm not really sure why I'm here. I was pulled thru a portal and ended up in this canyon. I'd like to get home, but I'm not sure how." Toothless stared at the ground in sadness. "I have a human rider back home, and I bet he's worried sick about me."

"A human rider?" Shifu asked.

"His name's Hiccup." Toothless said. "He's a Viking who first started the riding of dragons. He made me a saddle and this tail fin so I could fly after he was the one to make it come off."

"Ouch." Shifu winced.

"Tell me about it." Toothless chuckled. "Though I hardly felt a thing."

"So….you can't fly without your fin being out?" Shifu inquired.

"Nope." Toothless sighed. "Only for a few feet at a time. My tail fins help me steer and keep me in the air."

"How does it work?" Shifu pressed on.

"The saddle I'm wearing has a sort of stirrup on one side. That and the fake tail fin are connected by a thin but strong rope. When the stirrup is moved into certain positions, the fin moves, enabling me to fly and steer."

"So, your rider, Hiccup, will put his foot into it and he helps you fly?"

"You got it." Toothless nodded. "Except Hiccup lost his left foot in a battle, so he puts his prosthetic foot in instead."

"Yikes."

"Tell me about it."

"Can I see the fin?"

Toothless swung his prosthetic fin around for Shifu to see. Shifu unfolded the leather and stared at the design. "Not that bad."

"I know." Toothless said. "I think the design's totally wicked. I love how the color-"

"No, I mean it's not bad that you have this." Shifu said.

"But I can't fly without Hiccup now." Toothless protested.

"Sure you can." Shifu insisted.

"It's impossible." Toothless snapped.

"_Nothing _is impossible." Shifu corrected. "My master has proven that."

"Master?"

"Master Oogway. He taught me kung fu, and I became a master myself. Of course, Oogway created kung fu, so I can't really surpass him."

"Kung fu, huh?" Toothless mused. "Never heard of it."

"I'll have to show you sometime." Shifu told the dragon. He studied the tail fin once more. "You know, this reminds me of a fan. A few adjustments……yes…..that might work….."

"Oh no." Toothless jumped away from the red panda, frowning. "You're not messing with Hiccup's stuff."

"You want to fly again?" Shifu challenged. "Cause that's the only way out of this canyon." Toothless almost cursed when he realized Shifu was right.

"Fine." Toothless grumbled. "But I have to approve."

"Deal." Shifu agreed. That's when the old master noticed it was getting pretty dark, and he looked up, seeing some stars coming out. "I have to go; my students will be worrying about me."

"You'll come back tomorrow?" Toothless asked hopefully.

"I still got a fish with your name on it." Shifu reminded him. Toothless smiled a gum filled smile. Then, he walked off to a tree, hanging upside down from it with his tail and sleeping. Shifu shook his head and journeyed back to the palace, stopping only to pick up a few sticks from the ground and some tools and fabric from a friend of his that makes fans. When he got to the palace, he put the tools and the sticks away and limped off to the kitchen for dinner. His students were already there, and Po looked extremely relieved to see his master.

"Thanks heavens." Po said as he continued cooking. "I was about to come looking for you."

When given a weird look, Monkey replied, "He was worried you were attacked; almost had a heart attack."

"I did not!" Po snorted. Shifu rolled his eyes and he and the others ate.

"What were you doing?" Tigress asked.

"Not much." Shifu said. "Just….walking around."

Alright, so Shifu lied just a little bit. But he needed to be careful with Toothless' existence.

As Shifu lay in his bed that night, he couldn't stop thinking about Toothless. It seemed very strange that the dragon seemed to have come out of nowhere, but Shifu felt entitled to help. Perhaps he'd even find out more about this dragon than he thought.

Toothless thought hard.

_That Shifu fellow is an interesting case. _He thought. _I wonder if he could help. If not, he'd always make a good dinner._

Cruel thoughts, perhaps. But Toothless was a carnivore. True, he didn't eat humans. But humans were his friends. Animals, such as Shifu and the fish he ate daily, were a necessity for Toothless to live.

For Toothless, Shifu was easy prey.

A/N: Surprised? Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	4. Test Flight

A/N: This chapter was inspired by the song "Test Drive" from the "How to Train Your Dragon" soundtrack. I'm trying to not copy the movie, but if you feel I am, please try not to mention it too harshly.

Chapter Eight- Test Flight

The next morning, Shifu went to work. He made sure his students were off to train and started on his project. Using the tools he had gotten, he carved the sticks he had collected into two slender poles. Then, he carefully drilled a hole into each of the poles with a nail and hammer and connected the poles with a closed, ended peg. He made the poles at an angle and set them aside. Then, he sewed up some sleeves for the poles. Satisfied, the old master gathered up the poles, sleeves, a large needle and some strong thread and headed out to Toothless, grabbing a fish from the kitchen on the way.

"I see you returned." Toothless smiled.

"I told you I would." Shifu agreed. "And here's that fish." He tossed the fish to the dragon, who extended his teeth and caught it, eating the fish quickly.

"So, whatcha got there?" Toothless asked, staring at the stuff under Shifu's arm.

"It's the solution to your fin problem." Shifu replied simply. "You say that you need a rider to help you fly."

"Yes." Toothless said. "But I'm _not _letting you get on my back."

"My legs are too short to reach the stirrups anyhow." Shifu replied. "But this should help." Toothless seemed wary, but allowed Shifu to work on the fin. Shifu took the sleeves and carefully attached them to the fin by sewing the thread thru the leather and positioning them to the wood of the fin. Then, he slipped the two attached poles into the sleeves so the fin was extended fully. The poles fit so snug they were almost impossible to get out. One thing was for sure: they wouldn't come out too easily. Shifu smiled at his handiwork, stood, and brushed off his robes.

"Done." Shifu said. "Take a look." Toothless swung his tail around, almost hitting Shifu in the head. The Night Fury was amazed at what Shifu had done. The black dragon suddenly took off, and he was able to fly high up into the air, straight out of the canyon. Toothless flew around for a while before flying back to the canyon, smiling broadly.

"I can't believe you could do that." Toothless said. "It's perfect."

"You're welcome." Shifu said. "Now maybe you can get home."

"That's right." Toothless said. "Except….I don't know how to get there."

"Hmm." Shifu thought for a moment. "I might be able to ask a friend about that."

Toothless stared at Shifu. _Why is he being so kind to me? _He thought. _I almost killed him twice, and I could swallow him whole if I wanted. Still, he did help me fly again. _Toothless smiled. "I want to thank you for helping me fly again."

"Not a problem." Shifu said.

Toothless rolled his eyes and knelt to the ground. "No, I mean I want to thank you by giving you a ride."

"I thought you didn't want me on your back." Shifu recalled.

"A dragon can't change his mind?" Toothless challenged. Shifu chuckled, but seemed a bit nervous as he climbed onto Toothless' back.

"Are you sure about this?" Shifu asked uncertainly.

"Sure I'm sure." Toothless assured. "Just hang on." Shifu found a part of a saddle and hung onto it. It was just like a handle with a perfect grip. Toothless tensed his muscles, spreading his wings and crouching to the ground.

Then, he was off.

Shifu closed his eyes for the take off. But soon, he opened them, and he found himself hundreds of feet above the ground, staring at the landscape below. He looked up and noticed the clouds closer to him than he could ever imagine. To put it shortly, it was amazing. The wind blowing thru his fur, the smoothness of the ride, and the thrill of the ride.

"This is amazing." Shifu breathed.

"It gets better." Toothless promised. He rose up higher, going thru the clouds and above them. Shifu smiled broadly.

"You do this a lot?" he called over the wind.

"Before Hiccup, you bet!" Toothless yelled back. Toothless suddenly dived, spreading his wings just before they hit the rocks below. The dragon and his rider zipped thru a maze of boulders and roc shapes.

Shifu still couldn't believe he was actually flying. He had once ridden on Crane by holding his foot, but the avian had been saving his life, and Shifu was a bit afraid to fly at the time. This was nothing like riding a bird; this was better.

Looking down at Toothless, Shifu noticed that the Night Fury had closed his eyes in pleasure. Shifu started to scratch him behind the ear when he felt a few pebbles drop to his head. Looking up, he was shocked to see a rock spire hurdling towards them, and Toothless wasn't watching.

"Toothless!" Shifu cried. "Look out!"

Toothless opened his eyes at the last second, and the two of them crashed into the rock. Shifu fell off, falling hundreds of feet towards the ground. Toothless slammed into a wall of rock and dived down after the master. Toothless swooped down and caught Shifu right before they hit the rocks below. Shifu held on tight, looking up and seeing rocks falling, threatening to crush them.

"Toothless, I hope you have a plan!" Shifu called.

"I was hoping you would!" Toothless called back. Shifu almost hit himself. He held on tightly to the saddle and focused hard.

"Alright, I have a plan." Shifu said. "Do exactly as I say!" Shifu shouted commands to Toothless, whether it was "turn right", "go left", or "corkscrew", Toothless obeyed every order. Suddenly, just as they were nearing the exit, the largest of the boulders came hurdling at an amazing speed right at them. Shifu saw no options in which to dodge it, so he stood up on the saddle, prepared himself, and launched himself at the boulder, destroying it with a blast of chi. Toothless caught Shifu before the old master could fall and they sped away into the air. Toothless slowed down and glided smoothly over a large lake. The dragon and red panda breathed hard.

"Well." Toothless laughed. "That was fun."

"Oh of course." Shifu said. "Let's do it again, by all means!"

"Sarcasm?"

"Ya think?"

Toothless laughed. "Hey, how about I show you something cool?"

"Does it involve anything life threatening?" Shifu asked.

"Are you afraid of water?"

"No."

"Then just hold on." Toothless soared high up into the sky…….

…….and then started diving towards the water!

"Toothless!" Shifu cried. "What are you doing?"

Toothless didn't answer until they were fifty feet from the water, and then he said, "Aquatus ventus!"

The two of them plunged into the waters.

Shifu held his breath and closed his eyes, but soon opened them. He was surprised to see Toothless flapping his wings as though he were flying thru the air. Shifu let out his breath and found he could breathe underwater.

"What is this?" he asked.

"A spell my mother taught me." Toothless said. "I almost drowned when I was a hatchling, so she taught me this."

"Wow." Shifu breathed. Toothless flew/swam thru the water, scattering fish and passing algae covered rocks. They kept it up for a while until Shifu noticed the water becoming exceptionally cold. Toothless flew out of the water, breaking the spell. The Night Fury flew the old master back to the Valley of Peace, on the outskirts of town.

"Thanks for the ride." Shifu said.

"No problem." Toothless shrugged.

"You sure you don't want to stay?" Shifu asked. "We've got room in the palace."

"I don't think your students would like that." Toothless said. "Besides, I don't know how well I'd fit in."

"Alright." Shifu said. "If you insist."

"Same thing tomorrow?" Toothless asked hopefully.

"Only if you don't kill me or attempt to." Shifu said. Toothless rolled his eyes and agreed. Then, the two of them parted ways.

Each of them had different thoughts going home. Had they heard each other's they would've been quite surprised.

_I still don't understand why he's here. _Shifu thought. _Is Toothless some sort of sign? Is Oogway trying to tell me something? I'm getting tired of the riddles. Still, maybe Kai can help me find this Berk place or Toothless can show me on a map where he lives. I'm not sure he'd be too comfortable here._

_He's such a fool. _Toothless thought. _I am the dreaded and famous Night Fury, feared by all! That is, until Hiccup trained me. But I can find a way home myself. Poor Hiccup; he must be worried sick._

As it turns out, Hiccup was. He had been searching for answers ever since Toothless disappeared. Every day, whilst the other Vikings rode their dragons about, he would watch helplessly. Astrid allowed him to ride her Deadly Nadder, but it was the same as riding Toothless.

"Where are you, buddy?" Hiccup asked himself that night. "I need you back."


	5. Suspicion

Chapter Five- Suspicion

Shifu and Toothless spent a lot more time together after that. Every day, Shifu would see his students off to their training and then go visit Toothless, always with a fish in his hand. They went flying regularly so that Toothless could get used to flying with his fin out. The dragon had to be careful that he didn't hit his artificial tail against anything in the risk of breaking the frame that held it out. They kept it up for a while and, in about a week, Toothless was flying with ease with Shifu right with him.

Now, Shifu's students didn't really notice Shifu's disappearances. Po, and even the others, was convinced that he was either meditating or training on his own at the Birthplace of Kung Fu. However, there was one student that was starting to get suspicious. Tigress wasn't usually one to wonder about stuff like that, but she had caught Shifu leaving the palace with a large fish in his hand, and it aroused her curiosity. Shifu hated fish. So, if he was bringing food with him when he left, why would it be something he didn't liked? Tigress decided to find out and snuck away from the group as they went to train. Tigress watched Shifu as he grabbed yet another fish from the kitchen and walked off and out of the palace. At first, Tigress figured he'd go to train. But, instead, the tiger warrior found herself following her master into the forest. Though she kept her distance and tried her best to follow, Tigress soon lost Shifu. She started to wander around, searching for the red panda.

Shifu had known the entire time he was being followed. So he had ducked behind some rocks and lost Tigress. Then, he continued on to Toothless. The two of them went on with their normal routine: Toothless eats, they talk for a minute, and then they take off. The flight went well until Shifu found Tigress still searching.

"Oh….perfect." he groaned.

"What?" Toothless asked. Shifu pointed down at Tigress. "Hey…..who's the hot chick?"

Shifu hit Toothless' head.

"OW!"

"That's my student." Shifu said. "She must still be looking for me. Land in a tree."

"Why?"

"I have to talk to her and tell her to leave." Shifu explained. "She could hurt you if she thinks you're an enemy."

Though Toothless protested that he was stronger, the dragon obeyed, landing in a tall tree that had its top shielded from the ground. Shifu scurried down the tree like a chipmunk. He landed softly on the ground, right behind Tigress. The tiger master whipped around, but relaxed when she saw Shifu.

"I thought you were supposed to be training." Shifu said.

"I was…..concerned for you." Tigress replied. "You keep disappearing."

"I come here." Shifu told her. "To get some fresh air and meditate."

"Really…."

"I want you to go back to training." Shifu ordered. "I'm fine."

"Yes master." Tigress bowed and ran off. But, in her head, she knew it was far from over.

The next morning, Tigress left before Shifu did, searching the forest and hoping she'd catch Shifu. However, she soon became lost, and she ended up in a canyon. There wasn't anything very special about the canyon; there were rocks, grass, dirt, and a small body of water. Tigress looked around. Her sensitive nose caught a strange scent. It was the smell of scales, like a lizard. But what Tigress smelled seemed like a lizard almost thrice the size of Po. Tigress was starting to walk around when she stepped on a stick.

_Snap!_

_Grrrrr….._

Tigress whipped around and saw the lizard.

_STARSTARSTARSTARSTAR_

Shifu walked thru the forest, fish in hand. Well, in finger, really. Shifu hated fish so much he was holding the cod by the tail with two fingers. He made a face.

"This thing reeks." He muttered. "How can Toothless eat this?"

Suddenly, there was a girl's scream.

Shifu jumped, dropping the fish. He looked up and saw a large black mass with a smaller, orange, black striped mass on its back.

"You've got to be kidding me." Shifu groaned. He ran up the nearest tree, all the way to the top. He scanned the sky and found Toothless bucking around, looking like a flying rodeo bull. Tigress, as she screamed now and then, was holding onto the saddle like her life depended on it. Shifu jumped from tree to tree until he found one that was a lot taller. Then, he waited until Toothless came speeding past him. Then, Shifu jumped and grabbed Toothless' tail. With the wind in his face and Toothless thrashing around, Shifu managed to inch his way towards the saddle. Tigress was still holding on tight. Shifu reached over and tapped his top student on the shoulder. Tigress turned to him and gaped.

"Mind if I take that spot?" Shifu asked, gesturing towards the saddle. Tigress moved as Shifu climbed over her and onto the saddle. Shifu held onto the saddle grip and leaned down towards Toothless. "Toothless….."

The Night Fury turned and Shifu had to pull back to avoid colliding heads with him. "Hey, Shifu!" Toothless cried happily. "When'd you get here?"

"Toothless, you land this instant!" Shifu ordered.

"But she jumped me!" Toothless protested.

"Toothless…..now." Shifu repeated.

"Fine….." Toothless evened out his flying and glided. "How's that?"

"Great." Shifu said. "Tigress, are you alright?"

"Uh…..sort of….." Tigress whimpered.

"Good." Shifu said. "Then, will you please retract your claws from my arms?"

Tigress stared at her master and realized that she had been holding onto her master when he had gotten on. The skin under her fur reddened, and she sheathed her claws. "Sorry." She muttered.

"It's fine." Shifu assured. "Now, what happened?"

"Well, I was still worried, so I tried to find you in the forest." Tigress explained. "I ended up in a canyon, and _it _attacked me."

"I'm a _he_, thank you." Toothless retorted. "And I thought she was attacking me. She hopped on my back, and I took off to lose her."

"Alright." Shifu said. "Tigress, Toothless, apologize to each other." Reluctantly, the dragon and tiger warrior mumbled apologies. "Good. Now, since Tigress knows about you, I think it's about time I introduce you to the rest of my students."

"What?" Tigress and Toothless exclaimed.

"Are any of them made of meat?" Toothless asked.

"You'll be well fed." Shifu promised. "There will be no eating of my students."

"Fine." Toothless muttered. They kept flying, and Tigress started to get used to it, maybe even like it. They arrived at the palace within a few minutes, landing in the courtyard. Shifu and Tigress dismounted and led Toothless to the Training Hall.

Now, to say that the rest of the Five and Po were surprised is an understatement. Monkey, Mantis, Crane, and Viper stared at Toothless with their mouths hanging down to the floor. Po…..well…..Po fainted.

"Now, until we can find a way for Toothless here to get home, he'll have to stay here." Shifu said. "I want all of you to make him feel at home and do not give him any reason to attack or harm you." Everyone, including Po when he woke up, agreed.

Now, you'd think that it was all said and done, but it's not always that easy. There's always someone with suspicions. This time, that person was Po. He didn't really trust Toothless, mostly because he realized where all the missing fish had gone to.

He decided to confront Shifu that night, after everyone had gone to bed and as he was washing the dishes. Shifu had come into the kitchen for tea.

"Are you sure we can trust this Toothless person?" Po asked his master.

"Of course." Shifu assured. "I've spent over an entire week with him."

"I know." Po said. "But, don't you think it's a bit dangerous? You told us earlier about what had happened." Shifu had indeed explained how he had met and befriended Toothless.

"That's all behind us." Shifu replied curtly.

"As long as he doesn't try and kill us." Po muttered.

A/N: Keep up with the reviews!


	6. Life at the Palace

Chapter Six- Life At the Palace

The residents of the Jade Palace, sans Shifu, didn't get used to Toothless for a while. Every time they saw the Night Fury, they kept jumping. Po was still wary, but inwardly a little excited to finally see a dragon. He was, after all, the _Dragon _Warrior, but he always thought he'd see a dragon like the one that held the Dragon Scroll. Po managed to sit down with Toothless after the dragon had eaten and talk about the other dragons in Berk. Po seemed pretty interested and impressed by the dragons and what they could do.

"The Terrible Terror is the smallest, but that makes its fire blasts a more direct hit." Toothless finished.

"Wow." Po breathed. "Kind of like me; big and fat, but a great warrior!" Toothless gave him a look. "Ok, not a _great _warrior, but working on it."

"Back at home, I'm the most famous and used to be the most dreaded dragon in the world."Toothless smiled. "Night Furies don't have shot limits and our speed is wicked!"

"So, what made you change your mind?" Po asked.

"Hiccup." Toothless sighed. "My human rider. He helped me fly again after I lost one of my tail fins."

"Speaking of flying."

Po and Toothless turned and saw Shifu. "Glad to see you two not killing each other." Toothless chuckled and knelt down.

"What are you guys doing?" Po asked.

"Flying." Shifu replied as he mounted the dragon. "Toothless needs to get used to the fake fin."

"Can I try?" Po asked.

"Maybe." Shifu shrugged. "Up to Toothless."

"I'll give everyone a ride as long as they don't mess with me." Toothless agreed. Po ran off to get the Five, and Toothless took off. Shifu smiled as the wind blew thru his fur. He had grown to love his flights with Toothless and enjoyed every minute of it. Toothless had gotten used to using his tail fin but couldn't turn that fast since the fin couldn't move. The flight lasted a few minutes before Toothless landed in front of the Five and Po, who had gathered. Shifu dismounted Toothless.

"You all here for a ride?" he questioned.

"Maybe." Mantis smirked.

Toothless grinned. "Who's first?"

"I'll go!" Mantis jumped right on.

"Me, too!" Monkey added. Toothless nodded, and the simian hopped into the saddle. Mantis sat on the Night Fury's head.

"Hold on tight!" Toothless advised. Monkey and Mantis obeyed as Toothless shot up into the air like a sleek, black arrow. Mantis blew backwards into the saddle and held onto the grip of the saddle.

"Be careful up there!" Po warned.

"We're fine!" Toothless shouted. He did a few loops in the air, laughing and whooping. Monkey and Mantis seemed to be having a good time as well. They were careful not to look down, though; when Mantis did so, he nearly let go of the saddle in fear. The boys went up thru the clouds and back down, again and again, before Toothless landed.

"That was so cool!" Monkey exclaimed.

"Tell me about it!" Mantis agreed. "Never been flying before, but I love it!"

Toothless smirked. "Yup. So, anyone else want a ride?" The Night Fury glanced at Tigress and Viper. "How about you two?"

"Uh, I don't know." Tigress muttered. But Viper slithered up eagerly as the boys got off and got onto the saddle. Tigress sighed. "You try anything funny and so help me….."

"Just get on." Toothless sighed. Tigress hesitantly eased herself onto the saddle behind Viper. Toothless went up into the air nice and easy. He flew around smoothly, circling the mountain. "That's not so bad now is it?"

"Not really." Tigress admitted. "It's actually kind of fun."

"Good." Toothless said. "Then you'll love this."

"What are you-?"

Toothless suddenly shot forward, gaining speed and zipping around like a fly. He zigzagged thru trees; dived to the ground, only to pull up at the last second; flew high into the air and spun around. Tigress shrieked, obviously freaked out. Toothless only laughed and Viper rolled her eyes. Toothless flew above the clouds and leveled out to a smooth glide.

"Well, wasn't that fun?" Toothless chuckled.

Tigress growled. "Why if Shifu didn't care for you so much I would-"

"Shh." Toothless interrupted.

"Don't you tell me to-"

"Shut up!" Toothless hissed. His ears perked up. "You hear that?"

"Hear what?" Viper asked.

"It sounded like someone yelling." Toothless replied. He dipped below the clouds and the three of them found themselves over the village. Coincidentally, there was a group of crocodile bandits below them.

"Great." Tigress grumbled. "Just what we need."

"Shall we take them down?" Toothless asked, baring his teeth.

"We need to get you back to the palace." Viper reminded the dragon. "You know you're not allowed to be seen by the villagers." Toothless sighed, but flew back to the palace as fast as he could. He landed quickly and the girls hopped off.

"Something wrong?" Shifu asked.

"We've got crocs down in the village." Viper said.

"Great." Po muttered. "Just what we need."

"Let's get down there." Shifu ordered.

"Can I come?" Toothless asked.

"No." Shifu said firmly. "The villagers have never seen a dragon and might panic."

"But I can help!" Toothless protested. "I am the strongest and fiercest dragon in the land!"

"The fiercest part is what worries me." Shifu said. "Just stay here; we'll be back soon." The group rushed out the door, leaving Toothless alone.

Toothless huffed. "I never thought their village would be full of wimps." Toothless stared at the doors for a long time before he took off into the sky, circling the mountain. He landed at the foot of the stairs and slunk into the shadows, lurking thru the streets. He managed to find the place where the battle was taking place. He could clearly see Shifu and his students amongst the sea of greenish-brown scales of the crocodile bandits. Toothless desperately wanted to help them, but remembered Shifu's warning and stayed hidden in the darkness of a nearby house's shadow. He was quite impressed to see the kung fu warriors take down the bandits so easily. In a matter of maybe a minute (maybe less), the crocs were taken down. Most of them high tailed it out of the village, but Tigress grabbed one by its tail and got up in his face.

"What do you think you're doing here?" she demanded.

"It w-wasn't our idea!" the croc stuttered. "Our b-boss wanted us t-to come here and c-capture the d-dragon."

"Dragon?" Viper asked. "What dragon?"

"One of our scouts was here yesterday." The croc admitted. "He said he saw a dragon! The boss thought that, you know, we could capture it. Make good money off it."

Tigress scoffed and dropped the croc. Shifu stepped up to it and took a hold of his shirt. "I don't know what your scout saw or why he even thought about coming here, but if I ever see you or your men here looking for a _dragon_ my students and I will hunt you down and gut you like a fish. Understand?"

"Yes sir." The croc squeaked.

"Good." Shifu smiled. "Now get out." He tossed the croc aside, who scurried off to join his comrades.

"Bandits these days." Crane sighed.

"Yeah." Po agreed. "Listen, I have to go help my dad in the shop; I'll see you guys at dinner?"

"Alright." Shifu shrugged. The Five started walking off, and Shifu stood beside Po. "Keep an ear out for anyone who might be talking about Toothless, ok?" He whispered.

"Got it." Po whispered. He ran off to his dad's shop, and Shifu glanced towards a nearby house. He started walking down an alleyway when he turned and grabbed Toothless's ear.

"Ouch!" Toothless yelped. "Watch it, old man!"

"What part of 'stay in the palace' did you not understand?" Shifu hissed.

"The 'stay' part." Toothless laughed.

"This isn't funny." Shifu snapped. "Those crocs know you're here and I bet some of the villagers know you're here, too. If you want to go home to Hiccup alive, you need to stay safe." Toothless sighed. "Toothless, I'm doing this for your sake and for Hiccup's sake. How do you think he'd feel if he _never _saw his dragon again?"

Toothless sighed again. "Fine. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted." Shifu smiled and hopped into the saddle. "Now let's go." Toothless shot up into the clouds before anyone could see and flew off.

Meanwhile, Po arrived at his dad's shop a few minutes later. "Hey Dad!" Po suddenly skidded to a halt at the sight before him. The shop was empty and there was a bit of smoke coming from the kitchen. "Dad!" Po ran towards the house and slammed the door open, finally noticing that some of the kitchen was partly black from burning. "Dad? Where are you?"

"I'm right here."

Po turned and sighed with relief when he saw his dad coming down the stairs with a hammer and bucket of nails. "What happened?"

"Just a little fire." Mr. Ping shrugged. "My apron got too close to the cooking fire. Nothing big, I just won't be opening shop for a few days."

"Well, as long as you're okay." Po sighed. He started helping his dad repair the kitchen.

"By the way, did you hear some things people are saying?" Mr. Ping asked as he hammered.

"What are people saying?" Po measured out some wood and starting sawing it.

"Well, there are people saying they keep seeing this giant black…..thing." Mr. Ping shrugged. "Many people say it was a dragon, some say it was a flying panther; Crazy Eye Joe said it was a 'demon from Hell that shall kill us all!'" Mr. Ping chuckled.

"What is _wrong _with that guy?" Po laughed. "What do you think it is?"

"I don't know." Mr. Ping shook his head. "I think it's just a prank."

"Who knows?" Po shrugged. "You know kids these days." The two of them laughed, but Po was worried and pretty angry.

_STAR STAR STAR STAR STAR_

"When's dinner?" Toothless moaned. "I'm hungry!"

"Po will be here soon." Shifu promised. "He always makes good food."

"Well if he doesn't get here soon, I'm gonna eat the bug!" Toothless snapped.

"Toothless….."

"Hey dragon!"

Everyone jumped and turned to the door as Po walked in. "Toothless, how many times did you go out into the village?" Po demanded as he started cooking. "A lot of people are spreading rumors. One guy thinks you're a demon from Hell!"

"You mean Crazy Eye Joe?" Monkey guessed.

"Yup." Po nodded.

"That guy's been around since _I _was a kid." Shifu groaned.

Po rolled his eyes as he served his famous soup. "What I'm trying to say is we need to be extra careful. The villagers are spreading rumors and if that gets out to the bandits around China Toothless is gonna be in trouble."

"I'll stay in the palace!" Toothless snapped. "Jeez, make a big deal over nothing!"

"It's not nothing if people are trying to hurt you." Viper said.

"I am a Night Fury!" Toothless growled. "There's not a dragon in the world that can beat me!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" Po muttered. He placed a bowl of soup at the dragon's feet. "Eat up." Toothless seemed wary, but took a lick. Then, he smiled and down the whole bowl in three seconds. "Yum."

"Yikes." Crane said.

"Like I said." Toothless continued. "There isn't a single creature in this world that can beat me. Everyone fears me until they get to know me." Toothless burped. Everyone suddenly laughed. Shifu rolled his eyes and rubbed his temple.

"I bet they're scared of your breath after meals!" Mantis laughed.

Toothless frowned, but smiled and laughed along. After dinner, the group went to bed. Mantis was still laughing about Toothless and his burp. Eventually, Tigress had to tell him to shut up and go to bed before she "rips out his vocal cords" and put them in a very unwanted place.

Shifu walked thru the halls of the palace and stopped at the storage room. Inside were extra pots, woks, and pans, a box of utensils, some shields and a sword here and there. Also in the room was Toothless, curled up in a ball and snoring softly. Shifu smiled and scratched the dragon behind the ears. Toothless opened his eyes sleepily and sighed.

"You alright?" Shifu asked.

"I just miss Hiccup." Toothless said glumly. "He's probably worried sick for me."

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm going to get you home." Shifu promised.

"Really?" Toothless asked hopefully.

"Hey, what's going to stop us?"

_STAR STAR STAR STAR STAR_

You know how you get halfway thru a good story and you realized there aren't any big problems? And then all of a sudden, something big is revealed and you realize how big of a mess your favorite characters are in.

Well, this is the point where that happens.

For many miles away, deep in the forest, there was a small mountain near a river. Deep in the mountain were two familiar figures. One was quite small compared to his companion. The smaller figure spoke in a voice that dripped of power and authority.

"Soon it will be time to take back what is rightfully ours." He said. "We will get our revenge."

"I want it now!" the larger figure roared. His voice was deep and dark, full of anger and rage. "That little twerp will-"

"Patience, my friend." The small figure interrupted. "You forget that I have two people I want dead as well."

"You had a chance to kill him but you hesitated!" the large figure shouted.

"Are you forgetting that it was _I _who resurrected you?" the small figure growled. "You are under my command as long as we are in this world."

"Forgive me if I do not fully trust your Underworld magic." The large figure muttered. "But very well; I shall put off my revenge for a while. When do we attack?"

"We'll send them a warning." The small figure chuckled darkly. "Then they will know of us. When we catch them alone, we'll take them down."

"This had better work." The large figure growled.

"It will." The small figure assured. "Soon, the ones who have wronged us will be reduced to nothing more that bloodied corpses in the river."

A/N: Just so you all know (specifically the guy who complained), the Aquatus ventus spell is _NOT _a Bakugon reference. I don't even like Bakugon.

Anyway, review please! I know it's a long chapter, but what comes next is a more detailed introduction to our two antagonists!


	7. Trouble Ahead

Chapter Seven- Trouble Ahead

A few days later, things calmed down. The villagers didn't talk much about the "fake" dragon. However, many of the children were seen playing like they were dragons.

Toothless didn't go down to the village anymore. Shifu talked with his friend Kai, but the coyote had absolutely _no _idea where Berk could possibly be. He did give Shifu a few maps that had areas where Berk _might _be. Those maps were what Toothless and Shifu were looking at that evening after dinner.

"What about here?" Shifu asked, pointing to an area on a map.

Toothless stared at the spot for a while before shrugging. "Maybe. I'm not too sure. I've only lived near Berk and never left. I'm not sure what land is around it."

"Do you know its exact coordinates at all?" Shifu asked desperately.

"Well, a lot of the people in Berk say it's 'twelve days north of Hopeless and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death. It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery'." Toothless laughed. "It used to be a pretty bad place.

"Where on earth is the Meridian of Misery?" Shifu demanded.

"No idea." Toothless shrugged. "I'm a dragon, not a map."

Shifu rubbed the back of his head. "This is insane. How are we supposed to find this Berk place if you don't even know where it is?"

"Look, maybe we could, I don't know, fly around these areas and see if you recognize anything?" Shifu suggested. "We have to start somewhere."

Toothless sighed. "I guess. At this point, I'd give anything to see Hiccup again."

Shifu sighed thru his nose. "Well, we at least have a plan."

Toothless nodded. Then, he tensed up. His head whipped toward the window and he snarled, his pupils going into slits like a cat. Shifu's head snapped up to where Toothless was looking and just managed to see a shadow slip away. Before Shifu could say anything, Toothless suddenly jumped forward, bursting thru the window and chasing the figure. Shifu quickly followed, carefully climbing thru the window to avoid the sharp edges of the broken window. He just managed to see Toothless sprinting after a cloaked figure running down the stairs. Toothless caught up to them and tackled the figure to the ground, snarling in their face. Shifu skidded to a halt right next to them.

"Toothless, easy there." Shifu said calmly. "We don't want them dead yet." Shifu knelt down and removed the figure's hood, revealing a young leopard girl, about seventeen or eighteen.

"Would somebody get this thing off of me?" she yelled.

"I'm not a thing, I'm a dragon." Toothless growled.

"I knew that." The leopard girl said.

"What are you doing here?" Shifu asked. "You trying to get killed?"

"No, I'm trying to feed myself." The girl grumbled. That was when Shifu noticed how thin the girl was.

He raised an eyebrow. "Listen to me closely. I'm going to have Toothless get off of you-"

"Excuse me?" Toothless snapped.

"And when he does, you will not run away or try and fight us." Shifu continued. "We're going to ask you some questions, and you will answer them."

"What's in it for me?" the girl asked.

"I _don't _blast you with fire?" Toothless offered.

"We'll work something out." Shifu promised.

The girl sighed. "Fine. Just get him off." Shifu nodded and gestured for Toothless to do so. Though reluctant, and making the comment about eating her instead, Toothless got off the girl. The leopard stood and brushed herself off. She crossed her arms and gave the boys an annoyed look.

"Now, tell us, why are you here?" Shifu asked calmly.

The girl huffed. "I was sent here to spy on you, the dragon, and everyone else here in the Jade Palace and report it back to…..the guys who sent me."

"Who sent you?" Toothless growled.

"I'm not sure who one of them was." The girl admitted. "But man was he big! He must've been the size of the palace and easily fit inside the mountain." She sighed. "He had this greenish-gray skin, a clubbed tail, huge bat wings, and mouth full of teeth, and three blue eyes." She shivered. "The three eyes freaked me out the most."

Toothless' eyes were wide. He stared at the ground, breathing oddly.

"Toothless?" Shifu reached out towards the dragon, but Toothless shied away. "What's wrong?"

Toothless looked towards Shifu. "That's the Green Death. It was the dragon that almost took Hiccup from me."

Shifu averted his gaze towards the girl, who seemed a little surprised Toothless knew this. "Who were the others?"

"The only other guy who sent me told me I can't say who he is." The leopard girl replied. "He told me it was my duty as a cousin of his species.

"Excuse me?" Shifu asked.

The girl suddenly became a little scared. "He's a snow leopard." The leopard girl said carefully.

_Oh no. _Shifu thought. _It can't be….._ "What did he look like?"

"He had purple pants and fiery eyes." the leopard girl said in a low voice. "And yes…it was Tai Lung."

_STAR STAR STAR STAR STAR_

"How could it be Tai Lung?" Tigress demanded. "I thought Po here killed him."

"Actually, I said I defeated him." Po protested. "I really didn't know what happened."

Shifu, Toothless, the leopard girl, Po, and the Five were in the courtyard, discussing what the girl was there for and who sent her.

"I remember Tai Lung saying he used his powers to bring him and that Green Death thing back from the Underworld." The leopard girl said. "The last thing I heard before they saw me was that they wanted revenge on some people."

"I think we can guess who they are." Crane said. Everyone looked towards Po, Shifu, and Toothless.

Toothless growled. "If I have to kill that thing again, I'll do it with myself!"

"You're not going in there alone." Shifu interjected. "Besides, we don't want to risk a trap." He looked at the girl. "Do you know anything else about this, leopard?"

"My name is Rose." She snapped. "And I don't know anything yet. They told me to spy on you and report back at sunset."

"Then you have some time to tell us what you know." Tigress growled.

Rose sighed. "I don't know anything except that they came from the Underworld and want to kill some people! They wanted me to spy on you so they could break you down."

"We won't let them." Shifu promised.

Rose scoffed. "I don't see how you can do that. It's not like I can lie to them that well."

"What will you tell them?" Mantis asked.

Rose paused, looking at each of the masters that stared at her. She caught a glance at Toothless glaring, and she sighed. "I was going to tell them that you're trying to find the dragon's homeland. That's it."

"That might make them rushed." Shifu said. "They'll come to us faster. But that can give us an advantage."

"We'll take them down faster." Po said.

"Exactly." Shifu nodded. He turned to Rose. "You go back and report to Tai Lung and the Green Death. Then you report back to us so we can be ready. In return, I'll help you find a home here in the village. Deal?"

Rose huffed. "Deal." She glanced out the window. "I have to get going. See ya." She walked briskly out the door, running across the land.

"How do we know we can trust her?" Tigress demanded. "She might really be with them."

"Then we'll take her down as well." Shifu decided. "Besides, it's not like she has much to report. And we'll be alert at all times."

Rose sprinted on all fours, arriving at the mountain that was Tai Lung's base in ten minutes. She waltzed into the room, passing the Green Death as he was eating. Tai Lung was practicing his kung fu on a rock. Rose passed right by him and sat down in a chair, propping her feet on a table.

Tai Lung turned to her and smiled. "Welcome, little niece."

"I told you not to call me that, uncle dearest." Rose droned, inspecting her claws. "Your brother may be my dad, but he was weak and foolish. How do you think he died?"

"I killed him, remember?" Tai Lung chuckled.

"Oh, that's right." Rose smiled. "And you kept me alive because you knew I would grow up strong and be of use to you." Rose removed her cloak, revealing skin tight black pants and a spaghetti strap black top that showed her stomach. She wasn't skinny and lanky; she was strong and lithe. She took out a tanto and sharpened it on a rock. "Why did I have to be a messenger girl, though? I could have easily taken them down."

"Your mission was to gain their trust." Tai Lung reminded her. "And they trust you enough so that we can strike them with ease."

"We can strike them now!" the Green Death bellowed. "Why wait? Why can't we just storm the palace and destroy everyone?"

"Patience, my friend." Tai Lung said calmly. "Just be patient. Soon, you will feast on that little dragon and the Dragon Warrior and Master Shifu will be dead."

"And what about me?" Rose demanded. "When do I get to have some fun?"

"You will play an important role." Tai Lung promised. He punched and kicked the rock some more. "You will be killing Master Shifu."

Rose stopped sharpening her tanto. "Master Shifu? I thought you were the one who wanted to kill him."

"I don't like getting my hands dirty." Tai Lung said. "After all, I'll be killing the Dragon Warrior myself. He's the one who defeated me." Tai Lung shook his head. "No, you will be delivering the ultimate blow." Tai Lung walked over to Rose and leaned on the table. "Once we have the Furious Five, the Dragon Warrior, and that little Night Fury here at our base, you will be the one to hit them where it _really _hurts. We'll take Shifu and they'll come running." Tai Lung smiled evilly. "Then _you _will stab him with that pretty little knife of yours. They will be forced to watch him die."

Rose stared into her uncle's fiery eyes and sighed. "Whatever." Tai Lung smiled and turned to hit the rock again.

Rose stared uncertainly at her tanto.

A/N: Try and imagine Rose in skinny jeans and a sports bra with a hot body. And a tanto, which is a Japanese dagger. Review please!


	8. The Predator Unleashed

_Sorry for the delay. Computer problems. _

Chapter Eight- The Predator Unleashed

When Rose came back the next afternoon, she told the residents of the Jade Palace that Tai Lung and the Green Death were still planning their attack and that the Green Death was getting restless.

"Typical." Toothless rolled his eyes. "I say we go to their hiding place and burn it down!"

"How do you burn down a mountain?" Rose sassed.

"Don't start with me." Toothless grumbled. "I've been in a bad enough mood since I found out the Green Death is alive."

"Both of you calm down." Shifu ordered. "Did they say when they were planning to attack?"

"No." Rose shook her head. "They're still planning. But I bet you anything they'll put their plan into action very soon after it's is set."

Po rubbed his temples. "This is insane. How are we supposed to beat a dragon like the Green Death anyway?"

"When Hiccup and I first beat this thing, we had him fly up in the air and then I blasted his wings with my fire blasts." Toothless explained. "When we came down, I blasted fire into his mouth as he was preparing to blast us. When he tried to stop from falling, his wings ripped and were useless."

"I bet you anything he knows that trick." Monkey said.

Rose scratched her arm. _Dang this cloak is itchy. _"He does."

"Then what do we do?" Crane demanded. "How do we beat an old enemy that knows our weaknesses and an overgrown lizard the size of a mountain?" Everyone looked towards Toothless.

"What?" Toothless demanded. "I can't think of a single weakness that the Green Death would have. We could try and blind him, but I don't see how that'd help much."

"It's a start." Mantis shrugged. "And it could be easy." Now everyone was glancing at Shifu.

The old master shrugged. "I'm a fair archer."

"Then we'll start with that." Tigress decided. "We can put in more details later." She stood up. "I'm going to train."

"You all should." Shifu told his students. The Five stood up, bowed, and walked off. "Po, you're on dish cleaning duty after your little incident yesterday."

"It wasn't my fault that vase fell!" Po pouted.

Rose rolled her eyes. "I'm going to check out the training room." She waltzed off.

"I'm going to fly around." Toothless said. "I need to blow off some steam." He started towards the window, but stopped and went out the door after Shifu gave him a look.

Shifu shook his head. "You'd think he was a child. Reminds me of a certain panda I know."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Po chuckled. "I don't _always _act like a kid."

"Yes you do." Shifu said.

Po sighed. "Whatever. Can you help me a little? Please?"

Shifu raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to do something else to make it up?"

"I'll sweep the training hall and scrub it clean." Po offered. "There's still a bit of blood in there from the last time I was in the Gauntlet of Wooden Warriors."

"That was about as entertaining as the first time you went through the whole training course." Shifu smiled. He stood up and walked over. "I'll dry if you wash."

"On it." Po sang. "So, how's it going with Toothless and finding his home?"

"Terrible." Shifu grumbled. He took a towel and started drying a wet bowl Po handed to him. "We can't find anything clues or anything on where Berk might be. It's really starting to give me a headache."

"Well, what if you flew around some of the areas your friend circled and see what you can find?" Po suggested.

"So far, that's our plan." Shifu shrugged. "I'm really worried about Tai Lung and that Green Death thing."

"What are they gonna do?" Po laughed. Suddenly, there was the sound of breaking ceramics. Po jumped and turned to Shifu, who was holding the broken remains of a teacup he had been drying. Shifu opened his hand and let the pieces fall.

"Oops." Shifu muttered. He swept the pieces off the counter and threw them away. "Sorry. I just get a little tense about stuff like that." Shifu looked Po in the eye. "I don't know if you realize this, but Tai Lung is capable of many things. You know he almost killed me?"

"Yeah, I guess." Po muttered shamefully. "I don't really think about death much because I never experienced someone dying. I don't know, I guess I'm not used to the idea of death."

"It's alright." Shifu nodded. He kept drying. "I've been through things like that before." He sighed. "Personally, I don't want to talk about it."

"I don't see why you'd want to." Po chuckled lightly. "How's Toothless handling things?"

"He's pretty depressed over Hiccup." Shifu said. "He really misses his rider."

"You sure he's not dangerous?" Po asked warily. "He is a meat eater."

"He's fine." Shifu waved his hand. "Keep your fur on."

"I'm just concerned for your and everyone else's safety." Po sighed. "The first few days he was here he kept staring at us like he was hungry." Po handed Shifu a wet knife.

"Don't start with this again." Shifu groaned as he dried the knife. "You wouldn't stop rambling on about Toothless being dangerous and it got on everyone's nerves. I would trust Toothless with my life. If I trust him, you should be able to as well."

"But his teeth-"

"Tigress has sharp teeth and you don't have a problem with her." Shifu snapped. "Try to trust him and you'll see he isn't that bad. Honestly, you're so- _Augh!_" Shifu dropped the knife and the towel, clutching his hand. Blood was on the knife.

"What happened?" Po asked worriedly.

"I cut myself." Shifu groaned. He looked down at the cut on his palm and arm. Blood dripped to the floor. Po picked up the towel and handed it to his master. Shifu pressed the towel to his wound.

"What happened?" Toothless stood at the door, a frantic look on his face. "I heard someone yell."

"Good hearing." Po mused. "Kinda like a certain red panda I know." Shifu stomped on his foot, and his face twisted in pain.

"I just got a little cut." Shifu shrugged, removing the towel to show Toothless. "No big deal."

Suddenly, the smell of blood reached Toothless' nose. His eyes went into cat slits and he growled.

"What's wrong?" Shifu asked.

It had been so long since Toothless had some actual meat. Fish were okay, but sometimes he really just had to have some real meat. He needed meat now. Toothless crouched down and tensed his muscles, growling and baring his sharp teeth. Shifu saw this immediately and took a step back.

Toothless pounced.

Shifu ducked under the table, but had to move again when Toothless kept coming.

"Toothless, stop!" Shifu yelled. "What are you doing?" He jumped back as Toothless snapped his teeth. Shifu tripped over a fallen chair and ended up with his back in a corner. Toothless leaped toward him, but Po, who had finally snapped out of his state of shock, tackled the Night Fury and held him down as best he could.

"Run for it!" he yelled. Shifu got up and sprinted out the door. Toothless wriggled free of Po's grip and charged after the red panda. Shifu rounded a corner and ran towards the training hall. Toothless was on his heels, snarling. He launched a fireball and Shifu had to duck to avoid being fried. He ran around another corner and jumped into a tree. He pressed his robe sleeve against his cuts, desperately trying to stop the bleeding. He stayed silent as Toothless stopped under the tree he was in.

Toothless sniffed around, trying to follow the scent of blood. He smelled the air, slowly pinpointing where the end of the blood trail was. He suddenly snapped his head up to the tree above him, only to be met with Shifu's foot. Shifu ran off to the training hall and slammed the doors behind him.

Monkey noticed his master first and flipped off his favorite rings, landing in front of Shifu. "What's wrong?" he asked. Then he saw the blood. "What happened?"

"I cut myself and Toothless smelled the blood." Shifu panted lightly. "He's going crazy and trying to kill me!"

Now the rest of the Five were standing beside him. "Should we try and stop him?" Tigress asked.

There was a roar, and Toothless came through the ceiling towards the group. He snarled at them, his eyes full of fury. The Five stood protectively in front of Shifu. Toothless pounced towards the group, but the Five intercepted him and tackled him to the ground. Shifu stayed against the door, watching the brawl. Toothless was strong; he bucked Tigress and Monkey off of him, pulled Viper off his neck, and swatted Crane and Mantis away. Then he whipped around to Shifu again. He ran forward, but Crane was quick to get in the way, and he was tackled to the ground.

Shifu had no choice. He rushed forward and slammed his fist into the back of Toothless' neck. Toothless dropped, unconscious, on the ground. Unfortunately, Crane was under him. The rest of the Five lifted up the dragon and Crane crawled out. Shifu started towards Toothless, but Crane held him back.

"Better not." He warned. "Your blood might wake him up." Shifu stared at Toothless for a long time before he realized Crane was right.

"Come on." Crane gestured to the door. "Let's get you to the infirmary." Shifu only nodded, staring at Toothless. He walked off with Crane.

"What do we do with the dragon?" Tigress asked.

"We'll tie him to a tree." Monkey suggested. "No doubt when he wakes up, he'll have calmed down." They all agreed, so they got some rope and moved Toothless outside to a nearby tree (with much difficulty).

Back in the infirmary, the village doctor, Yun the fox, was wrapping up Shifu's arm and hand.

"Ow." He muttered.

"Oh hush up." Yun snapped. "You're the one who wasn't paying attention and cut yourself. Just be glad you didn't accidently slit your wrist or cut a major vein."

"I'm just worried about Toothless." Shifu said. "He's going to feel so terrible."

"You really care for that dragon, don't you?" Yun mused. "Even after he tried to kill you?"

"It wasn't his fault." Shifu assured.

Rose was watching from the window, and she sighed. She had seen the whole thing: the cut, the chase, the knockout. She sighed and walked off, walking up to Toothless. The dragon was still out cold. The leopard girl turned and ran to the Sacred Hall of Warriors, climbing a column and sitting on the roof. She looked out over the land, thinking about what Tai Lung and the Green Death were planning to do with the place. She couldn't look at the place without seeing a storm filled sky, raging fires, and people dying. What was worse, she was going to start the whole thing once she murders Master Shifu.

Rose wasn't a bad person. She was just born to a bad life. Her mother died when Rose was born and her father cared for her very much. He did everything he could to give her a good life, but it was hard. Everyone knew her father was Tai Lung's brother, and nobody trusted him that well because of that. Then, Rose's father went to visit Tai Lung in Chor Gom Prison, and he never came back. Rose grew up alone for a long time, and the orphanage never came for her. She could only assume that they didn't want a child like her with the other children. Nobody came to kill her, so she stayed in her house, living alone and taking care of herself. Oogway gave her refuge so no one could hurt her. She rummaged through the trash cans for seeds and planted a garden on her roof. She found old needles, thread, and fabric from the local seamstress and made her own clothes. She sold some of her garden foods and used to money to buy her tanto. Though everyone trusted she wouldn't slaughter them, she still wasn't respected very much. When she tried to buy a treat for herself, the salesman doubled the price just for her. She had a hard life, but she learned to live with it. It made her stronger.

Rose had her dagger to protect herself if she was threatened. But she never killed anyone, especially not one of the Jade Palace residents. She made herself a promise to never harm anyone there because of Oogway's mercy.

Rose drew her dagger and stared into the blade.

"This is so bad." She whispered.


	9. All Your Fault

Chapter Nine- All Your Fault

Toothless' eyes slowly opened. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. When his vision had cleared, he was met with a change in environment: rolling green grass, houses with dragon carvings above the doors, real dragons sitting on the roofs and loafing around, and Vikings going about their business. Toothless saw one Viking in particular.

"Hiccup?" he whispered. The young boy smiled broadly and rubbed Toothless' head.

"How's it going buddy?" Hiccup laughed. "You wanna fly?"

Toothless' tail shook like a happy dog's. He was shaking with excitement as Hiccup climbed on. Then they took off, flying through familiar skies and soaring around clouds. Toothless hadn't had this much fun since he went to the Valley of Peace. He didn't think much about how he got home, or the fact that Hiccup's prosthetic foot hadn't made a _click _sound when it attached to the stirrup.

Toothless leveled out and sighed. "I missed you so much, Hiccup."

"I missed you, too." Hiccup scratched Toothless behind the ear.

Toothless' smile wavered. "You can understand me?"

"Just keep flying." Hiccup's voice was getting faint.

Toothless turned his head, but Hiccup was gone. "Hiccup? Where are you?" He looked down and all around, but Hiccup was gone, leaving behind his voice echoing, "Just keep flying." Toothless flew forward, getting a bit worried. Hiccup's voice was getting stronger….and deeper. Toothless looked ahead and was shocked to see the Green Death in front of him. A snow leopard road on his back. Land formed around Toothless: a mountain, a lake, and many mountains around them. The Five, Po, Shifu, and Rose were fighting bandits below him, but they were quickly killed off, one by one. Before Toothless could fly down and help, the Green Death lunged for him, the snow leopard laughing cruelly. The giant dragon's mouth clamped down…..

Toothless' eyes snapped open and he jumped up, yelling. He breathed hard for a while before he realized where he was. He sighed, and that's when he remembered Shifu. He tried to move and find him, but he got stuck and found a rope connecting him to the tree. He used his talons to cut the rope and started wandering around, calling for Shifu once or twice. When he came to the infirmary, he found the door locked.

"Shifu…." He called lightly.

"Don't wake him!" someone snapped. Toothless turned and saw Po, looking furious.

"Chill, bear boy." Toothless whispered. "I just want to make sure he's ok."

"Are you kidding me?" Po whispered angrily. He looked at the door and gestured for Toothless to follow him. The two of them walked out to the cool nighttime air.

"What happened to him?" Toothless asked. "Did I hurt him too badly?"

"He still just has the cut." Po growled. "But I don't want you anywhere near him."

"I need him to get home."

"Get home on your own!" Po shouted. "Do you realize that you almost killed him?"

"I didn't mean to!" Toothless protested. "I just….it's so different here. I can't control myself when I smell blood; it's my predator instincts."

"Then you shouldn't be here." Po said. "I always knew you would be a threat to us. Why don't you just go home?"

"I can't!" Toothless yelled. "I don't know how!" He sighed. "Please, I need Shifu's help to get home. I want to see my home more than anything and I need—"

"What you _need _is to leave." Po snapped. "We don't need you here putting us in danger. So why don't you just get out of here!"

"You can't do that!"

"Yes I can!" Po said. "You don't belong here. So leave, and don't let me catch you hurting anyone else."

"Po, please, I care about Shifu." Toothless begged. "I would never intentionally hurt him."

"Leave. _Now._" Po ordered. Toothless started to protest, but saw no mercy in Po's eyes. So he bowed his head, turned, and flew off into the clouds. Po 'humpfed' with approval and walked off.

Toothless flew farther and farther away, guilt stabbing him in the stomach. He didn't know where he was flying and he didn't care; he just wanted to get away. He kept flying until his lack of focus caused him to slam into a tree. He crashed hard and lay on the ground for a while. Then, he lifted up hit head and inspected his tail. The fake fin was still out. Shifu had done a very good job at making the splint.

Shifu…

Toothless sighed and started walking. Po was right; he couldn't control himself and almost got Shifu killed. The Night Fury walked on, taking no notice of a certain leopard girl in a tree.

"Hey stranger." Rose greeted. "Where you going?"

"As far away from the Palace as possible." Toothless said.

Rose jumped down from her tree branch. Toothless didn't even notice that she didn't have her cloak on and just her normal clothes. Rose ran up to Toothless and stopped him.

"It's not your fault." Rose assured. "You're in a new world and were just following instincts. Po had no right to send you away."

"But Shifu-"

"Will be fine." Rose interrupted. "It was just a little scratch." Toothless was unsure. "Look, come with me. It's getting late and I know the perfect place for you to sleep." Toothless followed Rose through the forest and to a cave. Toothless helped Rose make a fire before laying down. Rose gave Toothless a comforting scratch behind the ears.

"Everything will be fine." Rose told the dragon as he fell asleep. "I promise."

_STAR STAR STAR STAR STAR_

Shifu woke up and got out of the hospital bed. He could smell Po's cooking in the kitchen and his stomach growled. The old master walked off, keeping a lookout for Toothless. His arm stung where he was cut. However, Shifu didn't see Toothless at all, even when he entered the kitchen. Po was cooking dinner while the Five talked. When they saw their master, they immediately silenced.

"How are you feeling?" Viper asked.

"I'm fine." Shifu assured. "Has anyone seen Toothless?"

"We tied him to a tree until he could calm down." Monkey said.

"I saw the rope, but Toothless isn't there." Shifu said.

"Oh."

"Maybe he cut himself loose." Mantis suggested. "But I don't remember seeing him." Everyone looked at Po.

"What?" he asked.

"Do you know where Toothless went?" Tigress demanded.

"Don't know, don't care." Po grumbled.

Shifu's eyes narrowed. "Po, where is he?"

"I told you, I don't know." Po said. "If we're lucky, he's long gone by now."

"Po, what did you do?" Crane snapped.

"I told him the truth." Po defended. "He shouldn't be here. He puts all our lives in danger."

"Where is he?" Shifu demanded.

"For all I know, in the forest." Po shrugged. "He was flying that way."

"I'm going to look for him." Shifu turned on his heel and hurried away.

"Wait for us!" Mantis called. He and the rest of the Five had to run to catch up with their master.

"Hey!" Po yelled. He ran after them. "Why would we want the dragon here anyway?"

"He's my responsibility." Shifu said. "I promised I'd help him get home."

"And we_ like_ Toothless." Viper added. "I'd die if something happened to him."

"But he-"

"It was my fault for not being careful." Shifu said. "Nothing more, nothing less." He and the Five ran off into the forest, Po on their heels. "We'll split up into groups. Tigress and Viper, head towards the fields. Crane and Po, head into the village. Monkey and Mantis, with me in the forest." The group split up and headed off, calling for Toothless. Po wasn't too happy, but he figured looking was better than arguing.

Tigress and Viper searched the fields frantically. They yelled for the Night Fury and scanned the skies, but saw nothing. Crane and Po didn't have much better luck. Crane flew up above in case he saw the dragon and Po ran around on the ground, but Toothless was nowhere. Monkey, Mantis, and Shifu scoured the forest. Monkey swung from tree to tree. Shifu climbed over rocks. Mantis ducked in and out of holes and hollows Toothless might hide in. They traveled all the way to the canyon where Shifu and Toothless first met before they stopped to rest.

"Where on earth could he possibly be?" Mantis panted.

"We have to keep looking." Shifu urged. "It's not like he's small or anything."

"Hey, what's that?" Monkey asked, pointing. Shifu and Mantis followed his point and saw smoke coming from a mountain.

"Is that a volcano?" Mantis asked.

"No, there aren't volcanoes around here." Shifu shook his head. "Come on, maybe it's Toothless." The three of them ran off to the mountain.

"Should we get the others?" Monkey asked as they went. "What if it's something dangerous?"

"There's no time." Shifu said. "If it's bad, we'll sneak away." They were silent the rest of the way. A few yards away from the mountain base, they stopped and snuck their way through the bushes. Shifu stopped Monkey and Mantis on a small hill.

"Stay here." Shifu instructed. "If anything happens, we run back to the others." Monkey and Mantis nodded and Shifu quietly slid down to the final row of bushes. He peered through the branches and barely contained a gasp.

"Tai Lung….." he whispered.

Tai Lung and the Green Death were there, sitting around a fire. Tai Lung was sharpening his claws on a tree, leaving deep marks in the bark. Shifu stayed silent as he listened.

The Green Death growled. "How much longer do I have to wait?" he demanded.

"Patience, my friend." Tai Lung mused, inspecting his claws. "My niece Rose is out getting Master Shifu now. With him in our custody, the Furious Five, the Dragon Warrior, and that little dragon will come running. One killing blow from Rose will send them into shock and give us a wide open door to victory."

"Are you sure they will be shocked?" the Green Death demanded. "Do they rely on the master that much?"

"He is a crutch to them." Tai Lung said. "Besides, when they discover Rose is a traitor, they'll be blinded with rage."

"Very well." The Green Death grumbled. "But you better be true to your word; I've waited a long time for my revenge."

"As have I." Tai Lung said.

Shifu was shocked. Rose was Tai Lung's niece. It wasn't a coincidence that she was at the palace; everything was planned. Shifu thought about going out there to take down Tai Lung, but he knew that the Green Death would swallow him whole before he could run. Shifu silently snuck away from the bushes and back to Monkey and Mantis. But before he could turn and climb to them, a paw grabbed his arm and a cloth covered his mouth. He felt claws dig into his arm as he thrust his free hand to the attacker's paw, trying to pull it away so he could breathe. He smelled something familiar on the cloth. Something sweet, but a scent he knew well.

Chloroform.

Shifu struggled to get away and not breathe in the gas, but his mind was already getting cloudy. No matter how hard he tried to fight it, the gas consumed him. He went limp as he fell to his knees, and then to the ground. The attacker, a leopard teenager, carefully folded the cloth and glared up at Monkey and Mantis.

"Leave." Rose ordered. Monkey and Mantis stared at their master for a moment before they sprinted off. Rose nodded curtly and grabbed the back of Shifu's robes, dragging him out towards his uncle and the giant dragon.

"Well done, Rose." Tai Lung congratulated. "Two of the Five even saw him; what luck!"

"When will they be here?" the Green Death asked impatiently. "I thought they'd come running."

"The Night Fury ran away from the palace." Rose informed them. "They residents of the Jade Palace split up in groups to look for him. It may take some time for them to regroup and figure out a plan. I predict they were be here either tonight or tomorrow morning."

"I can't wait that long!" the Green Death almost yelled. "I want my revenge now!"

"Be patient." Rose said gently. "They will come."

"You've done very well." Tai Lung praised. "Take him-" He gestured to Shifu "-inside and bind him. And bind him tightly; we don't want him escaping when he wakes up." Rose nodded and dragged Shifu inside. She took some rope and started binding the master.

"Shifu." Rose whispered. "If you can hear me, I need you to trust me. Everything will work out in the end. I promise."

A/N: Chloroform is pretty much knock-out gas you put on cloth.


	10. What Do We Do?

Chapter Ten- What Do We Do?

Monkey and Mantis ran as fast as they could. They found Tigress and Viper in the fields and urged the girls to follow them back to the Palace. They found Crane and Po and ordered them to do the same. Back at the palace, they gathered around the table to talk.

"What's wrong?" Tigress demanded. "Did you find Toothless? Where's Master Shifu?"

"To answer your second question: no we did not find Toothless." Mantis said.

"To answer your first and third questions: Shifu's been taken by Tai Lung and the Green Death!" Monkey said.

"What?" Everyone yelled.

"How?" Po asked frantically.

"It was Rose." Monkey said. "She was a traitor this whole time."

"She's Tai Lung's _niece!_" Mantis added. "She's gonna kill Shifu and we have to stop her!"

"Wait a minute!" Tigress held up her paws. "Start from the beginning and tell us everything since we split up to look for Toothless." Monkey and Mantis explained what they saw with Tai Lung and the Green Death.

When they were done, Tigress stared at the table for a while. "We can't go out there without a plan."

"But Shifu's going to be killed!" Mantis protested.

"Yes, but they _want _us to come running in there to save him." Tigress explained. "We need a plan. I'm positive that they won't kill Shifu tonight. They want us to come running and kill him while we watch."

"So, what do we do?" Crane asked.

"We sleep on it tonight and figure out a plan tomorrow." Tigress decided. "We're going to save him."

"What about Toothless?" Viper asked.

"He'll have to wait." Tigress said. "He can take care of himself for now." Everyone was uncertain, but they knew that Tigress was a better second-in-command than any of them, so they went to bed and uneasily fell asleep.

_STAR STAR STAR STAR STAR_

Shifu's eyes opened wearily. He tried to clear the fog in his head as he looked around. He found himself laying against a rock in a giant cave. A table and chair were on the far side of the room. Shifu head hurt, but he found that he couldn't move his hands. When his head was fully cleared, he found his wrists tied behind his back and his feet tied together. Ropes around his chest pinned his arms to his sides and a rope was around his neck, tying him to the wall. The ropes on his wrists and ankles were tight.

"Comfortable?"

Shifu looked up and glared at the snow leopard in front of him. Tai Lung smiled at the old master, bound and helpless. How he wished he could just kill Shifu now, but he was patient. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't have fun. Tai Lung sat down at the table and chuckled darkly.

"Oh, if only you could see yourself." Tai Lung mocked. "You're pathetic. You are supposed to be the greatest kung fu master in all of China, yet here you are, helpless and so easily killable."

"If that's supposed to scare or mock me, you are failing miserably." Shifu said.

Tai Lung huffed. "You're the one who's tied up and about to die."

"What's stopping you?" Shifu demanded.

Tai Lung laughed. "You can't bait me like that; I have everything planned out. But I will kill you eventually."

"You're no different." Shifu said. "You're nothing but a coward. I know about your whole plan. I know you will have Rose do your dirty work. You're nothing more than a sorry excuse for a warrior!"

"Obviously our definitions of 'warrior' are different." Tai Lung shook his head. "Shifu, honor is for the weak. What's the point in honor if it holds you back? As a warrior under your teachings, I couldn't use my claws in battle. But why not? They're formidable weapons. Why shouldn't I use them to my advantage?"

"Because there's no excuse to draw blood in battle unless absolutely necessary." Shifu answered calmly.

Tai Lung growled. "You are a-"

"Tai Lung!"

The snow leopard and red panda turned to Rose, who was in the doorway.

"Your dragon friend wants to talk to you." Rose said.

Tai Lung sighed. "Very well." He gave Shifu one last glare before walking out. Rose gave Shifu a look of understanding before following. Shifu remembered what she said to him while he was unconscious.

_Trust me. Everything will be fine. I promise._

As wrong as it seemed, Shifu would trust Rose…..for now.

Outside, the Green Death was fuming.

"You said they'd be here by morning!" he bellowed at Tai Lung and Rose. "It's already high noon! Where are they?"

Tai Lung turned to Rose, who shrugged. "The monkey and praying mantis _did _hear our plans perhaps they're thinking of a way around it."

"I won't wait much longer!" the Green Death growled. "I want them here now! I must feast on their flesh!"

"Very well." Tai Lung nodded. "Rose, go to the Jade Palace and tell the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior they have an hour to get here and retrieve their master or he dies." Rose nodded and ran off on all fours.

_Perfect. _Rose thought as she ran. _This couldn't work out better. _

In the Jade Palace, everyone was at a lost at what to do.

"Every plan we come up with is no good." Monkey said. "We have to figure something out!"

"When you come up with a plan that will work, let us know." Viper said.

"Shifu could be dead by now!" Po cried.

"He can't be." Tigress shook her head. "But I'm sure that Tai Lung is getting impatient."

"Maybe Rose can help." Crane suggested.

"Rose is the one who is a traitor to us." Tigress reminded him. "How can she help?"

"She can give you some new information."

Everyone whipped around and glared at Rose standing in the doorway. She looked a lot more menacing with her tanto and black clothes.

"Relax." She said. "I come in peace. My uncle simply wants you to know something important."

"Then tell us and get out!" Tigress hissed.

Rose laughed. "Are you always this tempermental?" Monkey and Po had to hold Tigress back to prevent the tiger from lunging towards Rose.

"Just tell us." Mantis snapped.

"Alright, alright." Rose held up her hands. "He said, and I quote, 'You have one hour before your master dies'. That's it."

"An hour?" Monkey repeated.

"Yep." Rose nodded. "If I were you, I'd hurry." She spun on her heel and skipped off. Monkey and Po released their grip on Tigress.

"Now what?" Po asked.

"Now, we go help him." Tigress said. She started walking down the hall. Rose was long gone. Everyone from the kitchen followed Tigress.

"Are you insane?" Crane exclaimed. "Shifu could be killed before we reach him."

"At least we go and we try." Tigress said.

"I don't know about this." Po said.

"I wish Toothless were with us." Viper said. "He could help a lot."

_STAR STAR STAR STAR STAR_

Rose hurried off into the forest. _Shifu's hour is almost up. I have to get there._ She took a sharp turn and found the cave. Peering in, Rose breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Toothless. The Night Fury was awake, but he was curled up and staring straight ahead.

Rose walked up to him and knelt next to his head. "Hey."

"Hey….." Toothless mumbled.

"Listen, you don't have to feel guilty about what happened." Rose said. "That's all in the past. What matters is right now and what you can do."

"I can't do anything." Toothless muttered. "Shifu's better off without me."

"Not now, he isn't." Rose said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he misses you." Rose explained. "Yesterday, he, the Five, and Po all came out and scoured the whole valley for you. But Shifu was captured by Tai Lung and the Green Death."

"How?" Toothless asked.

Rose sighed. "I helped. Tai Lung is my uncle, and he told me that I would receive great rewards for helping him. I'm supposed to kill Shifu so it would be easier to take down the Five, Po, and you. But I was never truly on his side. I have a plan that will make everything work out. But I can't do it alone. I need you, Toothless. Shifu needs you. I can't put my plan into action without you." Rose smiled encouragingly. "What do you say?"

Toothless only stared at her with soulless eyes. He lay his head back down, thinking of Shifu.


	11. The Deadly Strike

A/N: I realize that the giant dragon is actually called the Red Death, but since there are only a few more chapters, I'm still calling it the Green Death. So don't correct me!

Chapter Eleven- The Deadly Strike

Shifu tried for the millionth time to break free, but the bonds were too strong. Tai Lung had moved him after Rose left and tied the master to a tree. Shifu's wrists and feet were still tied and he was pressed firmly to the tree. The Green Death was watching, craving blood. Tai Lung was sitting on a rock next to the fire, sharpening a stick with his claws. The Green Death got bored.

"Is it sharp enough yet?" he asked Tai Lung, referring to the stick.

"Not sure." Tai Lung said, touching the tip lightly. "Let's check." He walked over to Shifu and sliced the stick across the master's face. The sharp tip left a gash in Shifu's cheek that immediately started bleeding. Tai Lung and the Green Death laughed.

"That seems sharp enough." Tai Lung chuckled. He looked into the forest. "The hour is almost up. Where could they be?"

"Perhaps they have given up on their master." The Green Death said. "Let's kill him now."

"We'll give them a few minutes." Tai Lung said. "They can't possibly give up on him that easily. Then again, I did start their hour when Rose left, and who knows how long it took her to reach the palace." Tai Lung shrugged. "Oops."

_STAR STAR STAR STAR STAR_

"We have to hurry!"

"I _am _hurrying!"

"Well, hurry faster! We have to get to him!"

"Why are we in such a hurry again?"

"Shifu's hour is almost up!"

"What?"

"Just go!"

"I'm going, I'm going! Keep your fur on!"

"We're still five miles away! We'll never make it!"

"You're forgetting that I'm flying here!"

_STAR STAR STAR STAR STAR_

"They're not here." The Green Death said. "The hour is up."

"Pity." Tai Lung said. "And I hoped I could see their faces when they watched him die. Oh well. I'm a man of my word. Rose may not be here to do the job, but I suppose that's more fun for me." Tai Lung took his stick and grabbed a rock near him. Shifu tried one last time to move, but he couldn't. "Don't move." Tai Lung growled. "I want to make clean work of this." He positioned the sharpened end of the stick directly over the old master's heart, which was beating faster. Shifu didn't move at all. He tried to ignore the pain of the tip digging into his chest as he closed his eyes and prepared for death. Tai Lung tapped the stick lightly with the rock. Shifu gritted his teeth. Tai Lung pulled the stone back and thrust it forward like a hammer onto a nail.

"Hey!"

Tai Lung stopped right as the rock touched the stick. Shifu's eyes snapped open. Tai Lung turned and saw the Five and Po, ready for battle and looking angry.

"Let him go!" Po demanded.

"Or what?" Tai Lung asked.

"Or we kill you." Tigress snarled.

"Touch me and your master dies." Tai Lung threatened. The stick was still right over Shifu's heart.

"You gave us an hour." Po reminded him. "Here we are."

"Right." Tai Lung nodded. "I gave you an hour to come. And now you're here. This makes his death more amusing."

"You son of a-" Tigress roared and leaped towards Tai Lung, but the Green Death blocked her path with a giant claw.

"You really think you're a match for me?" Tai Lung laughed. "I have a giant dragon on my side and your master about to die. You are nothing." Suddenly, Tai Lung's head jerked to the side as he felt a force slam into his face. "What was that?" The force rocketed into his stomach. Tai Lung looked and saw someone missing. "Where's the insect?" The force (which you probably guessed was Mantis) knocked Tai Lung back and forth, further increasing the cat's anger. Tai Lung snarled and managed to swipe Mantis away long enough to throw the stick towards Shifu. The stake flew like an arrow. It wouldn't miss its target.

But it didn't get more than a foot away from Shifu before a strange roar rang out and a blue burst of fire hit the stick, reducing to ashes. A black mass flew in from the sky, a yellow figure on its back.

"The Night Fury!" the Green Death snarled.

"Toothless?" Po asked.

"Is that Rose on his back?" Monkey asked.

It was. Toothless' eyes were flaring with anger as he landed hard on the ground, between Tai Lung and Shifu. Toothless bared his teeth. Rose snarled from the saddle.

"What are you doing?" Tai Lung demanded.

"Stopping you." Rose snapped. "Isn't that obvious?" Tai Lung lunged, but Toothless intercepted the snow leopard. Rose back flipped off the dragon and cut Shifu free.

"You expect me to trust you?" Shifu demanded.

"As requested." Rose nodded.

Tai Lung threw Toothless off and snarled at the group. "Shadows, attack!" Around them, warriors appeared. Bandits in full black armor, wielding black weapons, and snarling.

"Who or what are these?" Po asked.

"Shadow warriors." Rose said. "Don't worry, they disappear when you 'kill' them."

"And you know this because…..?"

"I'm his niece, remember?"

"Kill them!" Tai Lung ordered. The shadows lunged for the Five, Po, Shifu, Rose, and Toothless. Rose kicked one away before grabbing Shifu and dragging him away from the fight.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"We have to put your plan into action." Rose urged. She pulled him into the mountain.

"What about the others?" Shifu asked. He looked outside and saw his students and Toothless fighting the shadows. They didn't seem to be winning.

"They can take care of it!" Rose snapped. She rummaged around before finding a bow and a quiver full of arrows. "You say you're a fair archer, then prove it."

"What?" Shifu asked.

"You and Toothless take care of my uncle and the dragon." Rose said, tossing the archery things to Shifu. The old master took them up uncertainly.

"Are you sure about this?" Shifu asked.

"It was _your_ plan." Rose said. "Now come on!" They ran outside. Shifu immediately fired an arrow at a shadow sneaking up on Po. The shadow screeched as it disappeared like smoke. "Don't waste your arrows!" Rose snapped. Shifu rolled his eyes and hopped on Toothless' back.

"Let's go!" he ordered. Toothless nodded and took off. Rose hopped on as he did.

"What are you doing?" Toothless demanded.

"I want a piece of Tai Lung myself!" Rose growled. Shifu looked and saw Tai Lung climbing onto the Green Death's head.

"Fine." Shifu said. "Move in close, Toothless. I need a good shot."

"I'm on it." Toothless nodded. He flew in and yelled a few taunts. The Green Death whipped his head around to snap at Toothless, but the black dragon darted away. Shifu aimed an arrow and released quickly. It flew straight into one of the Green Death's eyes. The great dragon roared in pain.

"Nice shot!" Rose cheered. "Do it again! Get me close and I'll take care of Tai Lung!" Toothless nodded and circled around the Green Death. Rose took the first chance she got and leaped onto the Green Death's head, striking Tai Lung in the face with her foot. Rose snarled at her uncle, brandishing her dagger. Tai Lung growled and jumped back as Rose slashed at him with her knife. Toothless kept flying around the Green Death's head while Shifu shot arrows at the giant dragon. Quite a few of the arrows bounced off the Green Death's armored skull. But three more arrows found their way into the Green Death's eyes. That left him with two eyes.

Tai Lung growled. He grabbed Rose by the neck the next time she came to strike and tossed her aside. The leopard bounced and rolled and fell off the dragon. Toothless flew in quickly and Shifu grabbed her hand before she could hit the ground. He pulled her up as they circled around back to the Green Death and Tai Lung.

Tai Lung walked up to the Green Death's head and glared. "You pathetic excuse for a lizard!" he yelled. "You're supposed to be killing them, not getting your eyes shot out!"

"Oh shut up!" the Green Death roared.

"You will not speak to me like that!" Tai Lung snarled. "I am your master!"

"I have no master!" the Green Death growled. "Nobody can control me!" The Green Death threw his head back, launching Tai Lung in the air. The snow leopard yelled as the Green Death opened his mouth. Tai Lung fell in, and the Green Death swallowed.

Rose, Shifu, and Toothless were in shock.

"Did he seriously just…..eat him?" Shifu asked.

"Don't be surprised." Toothless said. "He did that to a lot of dragons."

"I think I'm gonna puke." Rose grimaced. The Green Death suddenly whipped towards them and snarled. He snapped at them, but Toothless flew away.

"Now what do we do?" Toothless asked.

"Maybe we could-" Shifu started.

"Tail!" Rose screeched. Toothless turned just as the Green Death's tail came and hammered them away into the sky. Toothless' quick turn prevented them from having all their bones crushed. But nothing could stop them from hurdling through the air and hitting the mountain. The three of them tumbled to the ground. They scattered as the Green Death attempted to squash them like bugs under his foot. Shifu took an arrow—his final arrow—and shot it at the Green Death. It took out the dragon's fifth eye.

"I'm out of arrows." He told Rose.

"Then we need a new plan." Rose said. Toothless was currently zipping past the Green Death's face, making his anger rise. Rose looked up at the mountain. "If he knows the fire trick, maybe we can…"

"We can what?" Shifu demanded.

"I don't know!" Rose cried. "How do we beat something that huge?" Shifu's ears perked up as thunder rang out. Dark storm clouds covered the skies. Thunder boomed and lightning lit up the sky. Shifu got an idea.

It was completely crazy beyond all reason and they could all get killed.

But it just might work.

"Follow me!" Shifu ordered. He whistled for Toothless. The Night Fury swooped down and landed on the ground for two seconds so Rose and Shifu can get on. "That thing can fly, right?"

"Yeah." Toothless said. "Why?"

"We have to get it up in the sky." Shifu ordered.

"But he-"

"Do it!"

Toothless rolled his eyes, but turned and launched a blue fireball into the Green Death's face. The dragon roared and focused his one good eye on the trio. He spread his wings and took off in rage, snapping at them.

"Now what?" Rose demanded.

"We take to the clouds." Shifu said. Rose looked up a little fearfully at the black clouds. Lightning flashed.

"Are you crazy?" She yelled.

"Trust me!" Shifu assured. He urged Toothless up towards the clouds. The Green Death was right behind them. Rose looked back and snarled.

"Bring it on, you overgrown bag of scales!" she screamed. Toothless had to duck away fast to avoid the fire that was blown at them.

"Not helping!" Toothless shouted. They kept going until Toothless disappeared from the Green Death's view. The large dragon hovered in the air.

"You won't trick me this time, Night Fury!" the Green Death yelled. "I know all your tricks!"

Hidden in the clouds, Toothless tried to stay silent as he hovered.

"Ok, we're in the sky." Rose said. "Now what?"

"Still thinking." Shifu said.

"Now is not the time to stall!" Rose refrained from yelling. "What were you thinking by coming up here?"

"That we could somehow hit him with lightning and that would kill him." Shifu admitted. Rose looked out at the Green Death. Lightning was flashing around them and it.

"It's a good idea." Rose admitted.

"Great." Toothless sighed. "Can any of you bend the lightning in his direction?"

"No, but that might not matter." Rose said. "I don't know if the lightning will break through his skull; it's armored too well. But a direct hit behind his crest ought to bring him down."

"Any ideas on that?" Shifu asked.

Rose pulled out her knife. "We could use this." She suggested. Suddenly, Toothless jerked to one side to avoid being hit by lightning.

"Are you trying to get us killed?" Toothless yelled.

Rose quickly put her knife away. "I didn't know my knife attracts lightning!"

"We can use that!" Shifu said. "Get in close!"

"You guys are crazy!" Toothless yelled. But he flew towards the Green Death, dodging teeth and claws.

"Hold still you runt!" the large dragon roared.

"Bite me, ugly!" Toothless shouted. The Green Death snarled and swung his paw. It slammed into Toothless, knocking him aside and tossing Shifu clean off the saddle. Rose barely had time to register it before she shot out an arm and grabbed him. She pulled him back onto the saddle before jumping off and grabbing the Green Death's claw. Shifu steered Toothless up into the clouds.

"We have to distract that thing for Rose." Shifu said.

"I'm on it!" Toothless smiled. He shot forward, letting loose a blast of fire. The Green Death growled in anger, snapping his jaws everywhere. Toothless darted around, blasting fire and dodging lightning bolts. Shifu watched for anything that happened around them.

Rose, meanwhile, had climbed up the Green Death's leg with her claws and was making her way towards his head. Once there, she looked for a spot to pierce with her dagger. But the Green Death was constantly moving his head, and Rose found herself clinging to his scales to avoid falling to her death.

Down on the ground, Tigress took down the final shadow warrior with her claws. "Is everyone alright?" she called.

"We're beat up." Mantis replied. "But good."

"Where are Shifu and Toothless?" Po asked.

"Up in the clouds still." Viper said, pointing with her tail. They watched as lightning lit up the clouds, showing the shadow of the Green Death's figure. A smaller figure could be seen zipping around everywhere.

"What do we do?" Crane asked.

"What _can _we do?" Monkey said.

"It's up to them." Tigress said. "All we can do is hope for the best."

Back up in the sky, things weren't going well. Rose was too busy hanging on to stab her dagger anywhere and Toothless was getting tired of flying around. To make things worse, the Green Death was shooting fire everywhere to add to the lightning.

"This is getting us nowhere!" Toothless yelled. "We need a new plan!"

"You have one in mind?" Shifu asked.

"No." Toothless admitted. "But…." His eyes widened. "Duck!" He dipped down as the Green Death's tail came barreling towards them. But instead of ducking, Shifu reached up and grabbed one of the spikes. He climbed up the clubbed tail.

"Keep that thing distracted!" Shifu ordered. Toothless nodded and darted around the Green Death's face. Shifu continued to climb until he reached Rose. "Need a little help?"

"I can't move without this stupid lizard threatening to toss me off!" Rose snapped.

"Then give me the dagger and I'll do it!" Shifu offered. Rose seemed reluctant—and maybe a little worried—but she handed Shifu the dagger. Immediately, lightning shot near them. Shifu ran up behind the Green Death's crest and stabbed Rose's knife into the area behind it. Lightning shot near him again. He ran off, grabbing Rose along the way.

"Toothless!" Rose shouted. The Night Fury's ears perked up. He flew over as Shifu and Rose jumped; Toothless flew under and caught them. They flew a ways away and watched as a bolt of lightning shot down, straight to the dagger. The blast hit its mark directly. Rose and Shifu shielded their eyes from the bright light. When they opened their eyes, there was smoke all around them. They coughed as Toothless flapped his wings all around to clear the smoke. When it had finally cleared, they were shocked.

The Green Death was still alive.

And he was madder than ever.


	12. Dangerous Killers

Chapter Twelve- Dangerous Killers

Toothless swerved and darted away in a panic.

"I don't understand!" Rose yelled over the wind. "How could a blast like that _not _kill him?"

Shifu looked with the best of his abilities and saw a hole where the lightning hit. The wound was bleeding. He could clearly see the Green Death's skull, and it was cracked.

"We have to hit it again!" Shifu said.

"How?" Rose yelled. "My knife is gone!" While Toothless kept ducking around the Green Death, Shifu thought hard. He stared at the cracked skull of the great dragon. One more blast should kill it for sure. But how? Suddenly, Toothless reared back to avoid some of the Green Death's fire. As the heat blasted Shifu's face, he got an idea.

"Toothless, how strong is your fire?" Shifu asked quickly.

"Pretty strong, why?" Toothless answered. Then, he saw the hole. "Oh, I get it!" He shot in, but the Green Death kept moving around, trying to kill them. On top of all that, lightning was flashing and Toothless couldn't make as sharp of turns with his fake tail fin so stationary.

Suddenly, the Green Death swung his head around and knocked Rose and Shifu off of Toothless and send the dragon spiraling out of control into the clouds. Rose dug her claws into the Green Death's scales with one paw and shot out the other to grab Shifu's hand. She pulled him up and they clung to the Green Death's crest, searching for Toothless. For a tense moment, the Night Fury couldn't be seen. But then, a blast of blue fire shot from a cloud and hit the Green Death's face, almost blowing Rose and Shifu away.

"Watch your aim you stupid reptile!" Rose screamed as Toothless flew by.

"Not helping!" Shifu shouted. Toothless continued to fly around, blasting the larger dragon left, right, and center. With each blow, the Green Death got angrier and angrier.

"We need to distract this thing so Toothless has a clear shot." Shifu told Rose.

"On it." Rose nodded. She looped her tail around the Green Death's crest and cupped her hands around her mouth. "Hey you big, fat, ugly dragon! Try and get us!" The Green Death snarled and shook his head, but Shifu and Rose hung on. "You couldn't kill us even if you tried!" Rose laughed.

"Uh, Rose…." Shifu warned.

Too late.

With a jerk of his head, the Green Death knocked Shifu loose of his hold. Years of training saved the old master's life as he twisted around and grabbed an arrow protruding from the Green Death's eye. The great dragon roared in pain. Its good eye looked directly at Shifu and the dragon snarled. Shifu glared right back and gave the dragon a kick in the eye. The Green Death roared and wiped his eye with a paw. Shifu was knocked off again, this time falling through the air.

"Shifu!" Rose yelled. "No!"

This time, it was Toothless that saved Shifu. The Night Fury was quick to fly over and catch Shifu soon after the master fell. The Green Death was still rubbing his sore eye.

"Now's our chance!" Shifu shouted. "Go!" Toothless flapped his wings hard and fast, reaching the Green Death in seconds. Before the larger dragon could react, the Night Fury was right next to the wound under the crest. Toothless summoned all the power he had and launched the ultimate fireball into the Green Death's skull. The blast went straight through and exploded in the dragon's brain. The Green Death jerked and froze. Then, his one good eye rolled back into his head and he died. The large dragon fell. Rose jumped onto Toothless' back and the black dragon took off. But, as they were flying, the Green Death's tail suddenly swung in their direction. Toothless knew he wouldn't be able to turn fast enough to save them…..

…..this was just like what happened to Hiccup. It was because of Toothless not turning that his friend lost half his leg. It was because of Toothless that Hiccup walks in pain.

Not again.

Toothless had just enough time to turn his body so that he was between the Green Death's tail and Rose and Shifu, the force of the blow knocked the dragon unconscious and send him spiraling out of control. Toothless' head collided with Shifu's. The red panda's vision went fuzzy. He shook his head to clear his vision, but all he could see were swirling colors. Rose screamed.

"We're falling!"

Shifu knew that below them was a lake that was who knows how deep. He tried to wake Toothless, but the Night Fury was out cold. Shifu thought fast. If he and Rose jumped, they could either be crushed by the Green Death or drown. There was no telling if a rock would be beneath them and, if there was, whether or not it would kill them or break their bones. The water of the lake was approaching fast. The Green Death had already landed in the water and sent up a large wave. The Five and Po had to run inside the mountain to avoid being swept away.

"Shifu!" Rose yelled. She was so terrified that her claws were digging into Shifu's arms. "What do we do?" What could they do? They were plummeting faster and faster towards the lake. If only they could…

…..breathe under water.

Shifu thought fast, searching his memories. What did Toothless do on that first flight? Think, Shifu, think; how did he do it? The old master tried to ignore Rose's screams to hurry.

They were fifty feet from the water when Shifu yelled, "Aquatus ventus!" He and Rose held their breaths as they hit the water.

….

Bubbles.

Shifu's eyes were closed, but he could feel bubbles tickling his face and water waving his fur. He felt like half of his body weight had disappeared, but he was still sinking. Rose's claws weren't in his arms anymore, but the leopard had her arms wrapped around Shifu's chest.

"Are we dead?" her voice whispered in his ear. Shifu opened his eyes and looked around. They were underwater, bubbles surrounding them. When the bubbles had cleared, they were on top of the Green Death's lifeless body. Shifu was gripping Toothless' saddle tightly. The Night Fury was still out cold, but he, Shifu, and Rose were breathing. The spell had worked.

"No, we're not dead." Shifu breathed.

"What did you do?" Rose asked, looking up at the surface.

"Something Toothless showed me." Shifu said.

"Wow." Rose breathed. She got off Toothless, knelt down, and pulled something from the dragon's leg. Toothless, still unconscious, growled in pain. Rose stood and sheathed her knife. "So what do we do?"

"We get Toothless to shore." Shifu said, getting off the saddle. "We're not leaving him."

"How are we gonna do that?" Rose demanded.

"My students will help." Shifu assured. "And Toothless will weigh much lighter underwater. The spell won't break until we break the surface." Rose grumbled a bit, but helped Shifu push Toothless towards the surface. It was tiring work, but, as Shifu predicted, Tigress and Crane came to help. They weren't too happy to see Rose, but Shifu managed to convince (and by that, I mean order) them to help get Toothless to shore. Once there, everyone pitched in to get the Night Fury to the Jade Palace. Shifu gave his students a strict order to not attack Rose, but the air around them was so tense you could cut it with a knife.

Toothless was placed in the Sacred Hall of Warriors to rest. Shifu sat next to the Night Fury, insisting that he should be there to make sure the dragon was alright. So everyone else dispersed to heal from the battle. Rose stayed a good distance from the others. The afternoon passed by uneventfully, and Toothless hadn't woken up yet. Shifu remained by his side, sometimes meditating, sometimes watching to see if the dragon would wake up. He checked Toothless' pulse every hour, just to make sure he was still alive.

Po came by soon after the sun had set with a lantern and some dinner. Shifu thanked him, but didn't touch his food.

Po sighed. "You really care about him, don't you?"

"I will keep the promise I made to him." Shifu said. "Besides, he's so upset that he can't go home."

"Well, you did a great job saving his life." Po said encouragingly.

Shifu looked away. "None of this should've happened. I should've been able to do something."

"Like what? Take on Tai Lung and that dragon yourself?" Po said. "I honestly think we couldn't have won today if you, Rose, and Toothless hadn't worked together like that. I'm still a little wary with Rose, yes, but she did help save you."

"But _I'm _the master." Shifu insisted. "That means _I'm _the one that needs to protect you and the others….and Toothless."

Po sighed and shook his head. "I don't think I'll ever understand you. Don't you realize that the Five and I did what we did because we care about you? I think we'd all appreciate it if you died because of old age rather than a bandit."

At this, Shifu looked up at Po and smiled. "Thank you, Dragon Warrior." Po smiled, bowed, and walked off. As he rounded the corner, he ran into Rose. The teen looked up at Po and smiled.

"Just because I saved your master doesn't mean you're indebted to me." Rose said. "That was to pay back for me capturing him."

"Yeah, well…" Po coughed. "Try not to do that again, huh?"

Rose laughed lightly and shook her head. "Don't worry, Dragon Warrior. I was always on your side." She left a slightly confused Po and walked into the hall, crouching down next to Shifu. "How is he?"

"Still asleep." Shifu said. "I'm getting worried."

"Well, don't." Rose said. "He'll be fine."

Shifu glanced up at the leopard teen. "I don't get you. Why would you be on our side if you are Tai Lung's niece?"

"He killed my father." Rose shrugged. "You think I'd be stupid enough to join him? Come on."

"But, everything you did…."

"Yeah?"

"It just…..confuses me." Shifu shrugged. "You act like a beggar girl that Tai Lung recruited to gain our trust, captured me through dishonorable means, almost had me and my students killed, and then you come swooping in to help save the day. What was the goal of all this?"

"To get revenge on my uncle." Rose said. "And to help send him and the bloody dragon back to where they belong."

"But everything worked out so well." Shifu shook his head. "Did you have every move planned out or something?"

Rose stared at Shifu for a while before drawing her knife. She examined her reflection in the blade. "I learned a long time ago that you can't make rash decisions. You need to examine all possible odds and go with the one that benefits you and, if possible, your allies. In battle, you do this quickly to end the battle earlier. Your allies are your family, friends, and even people you simply like. You have to look at every opponent, every enemy, and work out a plan that takes them all down and, at the same time, gets your allies home alive. I've learned to do this so it is perfect every time." Rose grinned at Shifu, her eyes flashing.

It was then that Shifu realized what kind of warrior Rose really was. She was strong, smart, and cunning. She wouldn't do something rash or stupid unless she had a reason to. She plans things out in a way that she always succeeds. She can lie with ease. As an ally, she is your greatest friend. As an enemy, she can murder you and no one would know it.

Rose stood and sheathed her knife. "Eat up. I'll see you tomorrow. I know how to get Toothless home." She walked off. At the door, Shifu stopped her.

"Thank you." Shifu said. "For everything." Rose smiled and nodded before disappearing. Shifu leaned against the column and stared at Toothless, smiling.

A/N: Sorry this too so long. I was so close to being done when my computer battery died and pretty much erased the entire chapter. I was so angry. Anyways, only one chapter left!


	13. Home

Chapter Thirteen- Home

The next day, everyone said their goodbyes. Rose told them that she knew how to get Toothless home, and it was time to get him there.

"We'll miss you, Toothless." Viper said. "It was amazing to have you here."

"I loved the flying thing!" Mantis jumped in excitement. "It was terrifying, yet amazing!" Everyone laughed.

"I'll miss you all." Toothless said. "I'm sorry for any trouble I've caused, and thank you for helping me."

"I'm sorry, too." Po said, ducking his head. "I was being stupid by yelling and being suspicious. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Of course!" Toothless leaped up and licked Po's face.

"Ew!" Po yelled, wiping off the dragon slobber. "Gross!" There was more laughter.

"Come on, Toothless!" Rose called. "You, too, Shifu. I want both of you to come with me."

"Of course, Rose." Shifu nodded. "Come along, Toothless." The Night Fury nodded and bounded after Rose and Shifu as they were leaving. Before they disappeared, Toothless looked back to Tigress and winked. "Later good lookin'." He ran off.

Tigress huffed. "Men."

Monkey gave Tigress a playful shove. "Aw come on, you know you like him." Tigress bared her fangs and snarled. Monkey whimpered. "Or not."

Rose, Shifu, and Toothless journeyed into the forest and back to the mountain where the recent battle took place.

"So, how exactly is this gonna go down?" Toothless asked Rose.

"I have my uncle's spell book with me." Rose explained. "In it is a spell that can transport us to different dimensions. We have to use said spell to get to Berk and get Toothless home." Rose stopped and pulled the book from her bag. She started flipping through it before she found what she was looking for. Rose unsheathed her claws and carved a circle into the rock of the mountain. She spoke a few words under her breath. The circle started to glow, brighter and brighter, until it showed the island of Berk inside.

"That's it!" Toothless was shaking with glee. "That's Berk!"

"Well, come on, then." Rose gestured to the portal. She and Shifu hopped onto Toothless as the dragon leaped through the portal. Unfortunately, they didn't realize that it dropped straight down after that, and they started free falling towards the ocean. Toothless didn't spread his wings until the last minute, sending them flying just feet above the water.

"Not funny!" Rose shouted. Toothless only laughed as he flew over Berk. Shifu looked down and saw a nice village, filled with creatures in fur clothing and battle gear, and dragons of many sorts climbing all over the houses. As he looked, he noticed a skinny creature with brown hair, brown pants, green shirt, brown vest….and a metal foot.

"Uh, Toothless, isn't that-?"

"Hiccup!" Toothless finished. He started diving, but Rose pulled him up again.

"Go to the forest!" she ordered.

"What?" Toothless asked. "Why?"

"Just go!"

Toothless gave Hiccup one last look before obeying. Once they were far enough away, Toothless landed and let Shifu and Rose off.

"Why did we land?" Toothless demanded.

"Toothless, I realize you're happy to see Hiccup and all." Rose said. "But those creatures, your humans, will hunt me and Shifu, kill us, use our meat for soup and our fur and bones for clothing."

"Oh, right." Toothless looked sheepish.

"Charming species." Shifu muttered.

Rose rolled her eyes. "I'll go and see if I can lead Hiccup here. Both of you stay put." She bounded off on all fours, leaving Shifu and Toothless alone. The two of them were silent for a long time.

"Well, you're finally home." Shifu spoke first.

"Yeah." Toothless nodded. "Thank you, for taking care of me."

"Of course." Shifu nodded. "It was a pleasure having you at the palace."

Toothless nodded. But he looked sad. "You know, I may never see you again. Neither of us can open a portal, and we don't know where Rose will be going."

"I know." Shifu nodded sadly. "But you belong here. This is your home."

Toothless sighed. Then, they heard footsteps coming towards them. Toothless turned to Shifu and nuzzled his head against the old master's chest. "I'll miss you."

Shifu hesitated, but hugged Toothless' head. "I'll miss you, too." He smiled. "Now go on; Hiccup's waiting." Toothless gave a gummy smile and ran off. He saw Hiccup straight ahead, coming towards him as he followed Rose.

Hiccup looked beyond the leopard he was chasing and saw a black shape heading right towards him. Before he could react, the shape collided with him and pinned the poor boy to the ground. Hiccup looked up and saw a familiar face smiling down at him.

"Toothless!" Hiccup cried. He hugged his dragon, thankful he was alive. Rider and dragon stood in the same spot, unaware of a certain leopard and red panda watching them.

"Home at last." Rose smiled. "We should leave them." Shifu only nodded, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. Rose opened another portal in the ground and leaped through. Shifu gave one last look towards Toothless and Hiccup. Toothless looked up at him and gave a little wave goodbye. Shifu waved back and jumped down into the portal.

Hiccup finally broke away from Toothless, smiling broadly. "I'm so glad you're safe." Toothless licked Hiccup's face. The Viking boy laughed. "Come on! Let's fly into the village and show everyone!" Hiccup hopped into the saddle and clicked his foot into the stirrup. He moved it around, making sure the fin still worked. However, he soon saw that the fin wouldn't move. "Aw man, did someone break this?" Hiccup jumped off and went to inspect the fin. That's when he saw the two poles keeping the fin open. Hiccup pulled them out and looked them over, noting the design and how snugly the poles fit to keep the fin extended. Hiccup glanced at Toothless, then back at the poles. "Where _have _you been, buddy?"

Toothless only smiled.

Back in the Valley of Peace, Rose and Shifu returned to the palace to announce their success. Though everyone was relieved that Toothless was home safely, they were still sad to see their dragon friend gone.

Shifu offered for Rose to stay in the Jade Palace and become a student. At first, Rose tried to humbly refuse. However, Shifu brought up a very valid point: where was Rose supposed to go? The teenage leopard eventually agreed, officially becoming a member of the Jade Palace family.

Things smoothed over after that. Rose kept Tai Lung's spell book and practiced often, enhancing her magical abilities as they revealed. The Five and Po trusted her after what she had done during the battle with the Green Death, and sparred with her often. There was no more talk of dragons in the village.

A couple weeks passed. Soon, it was a very important day: the anniversary of the founding of the Jade Palace. The villagers had always held a festival in honor of that day, when Master Oogway had come and changed their lives. Rose was reluctant to go, afraid of being discriminated against because of her family. But Shifu and the others urged her to go, and so she gave in. Turns out, word had spread of her bravery in the battle of the great dragon, and the villagers were constantly congratulating her. Everyone danced, had fun, and watched the fireworks that night, having the time of their lives.

At the end of the celebration, Rose found Shifu meditating next to the Moon Pool. Smiling broadly (with a party tiara on her head), she skipped happily over to him. "Watcha doin'?"

"Meditating." Shifu answered.

"I mean, what are you doing here and not in bed?"

"Couldn't sleep." Shifu shrugged.

Rose sat cross legged next to him. "Still thinking of Toothless?"

"Yep." Shifu nodded, opening his eyes. "I miss him. You think he's alright?"

"With someone like Toothless looking after him, I'm sure he'll be fine." Rose assured. "I don't see that stupid Green Death returning."

Shifu nodded, but he still seemed troubled. "You think he's forgotten about us?"

"I don't think so." Rose shook her head. "He still has those pole things you put in his fake fin. I doubt he'll forget us; just like we won't forget him." Rose smiled. "Then again….." she pulled out a package wrapped in ribbon and set it down in front of Shifu. "Just in case." Rose skipped off to her room, humming happily. Shifu watched her leave before picking up the package and opened it. Once he saw the contents, Shifu smiled. He picked up the gift and held it close to his chest, remembering how he and Toothless had soared through the skies.

Clutched in Shifu's hand was one of Toothless' scales.

A/N: Phew! Done! Hope you liked it! Sorry it took so long to update. I'll definitely be writing more, most likely on the weekends.

**SPOILER ALERT!**

BTW, if you've all see Legends of Awesomeness, I realize Tai Lung has a nephew named Peng. I wasn't planning on having him and Rose be related. You decide for yourself.


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